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Death. Taxes. And the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series. St. Louis eyes its second straight World Series appearance and its third in the last four years when it kicks off the best-of-seven NLCS versus the San Francisco Giants on Saturday at Busch Stadium. While the Cardinals are in this round for the fourth straight year and the ninth time since 2000, the Giants are certainly no strangers either and are back in the NLCS for the third time in the last five years. In fact, it will be the fifth straight year that one of these teams will represent the National League in the Fall Classic. The Giants won the 2010 World Series, the Cardinals won it in 2011, the Giants did it again in 2012 and the Cardinals were in the 2013 World Series. San Francisco defeated the Cards in the NLCS in 2012 en route to its title. Since the wild card format came into play in 1995, more NLCS have been played with either the Giants, Cardinals or both (11 times) than not (9 times). St. Louis, which won the NL Central with a 90-72 mark, made quick work of the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS, defeating all-world left- hander Clayton Kershaw twice in the series. The Cardinals erupted for eight runs in the seventh inning of Game 1 to pull out a win over Kershaw, before outlasting him in the Game 4 clincher, as Matt Adams three-run homer in the seventh propelled them to a 3-2 win. Kershaw had actually held St. Louis to just one run over six scoreless innings before it unraveled in the seventh. Amazingly, the Cardinals did not have the lead entering the seventh inning in any of the four games. You look at what these guys have been able to do, you take a Matt Adams and see his track record, and even though he didnt throw up huge power numbers this year, he has in the past and can, said St. Louis manager Mike Matheny. Nobody put up big power numbers for the Cardinals this season, as they ranked last in the NL with just 105 home runs. That hasnt been the case this postseason, especially for light-hitting third baseman and leadoff hitter Matt Carpenter, who had just eight home runs in a league-high 709 plate appearances during the regular season, but homered in each of the first three games against the Dodgers. I wouldnt say it was a struggle, but I never really hit a stretch where I felt like I was really hot, Carpenter said. I would rather take it now than during the regular season. This is when it matters. Carpenter, who was 6-for-17 with seven RBI in the NLDS, powered a Cardinals offense that has hit seven home runs in the playoffs. Weve heard a lot about that this season, our lack of home runs, Matheny said tersely. Its nice to see them in big situations like this. Weve got guys that can do it, but were not preaching it. Still, the Cards are led by ace right-hander Adam Wainwright, who will get the call in Game 1. Wainwright had another terrific season, going 20-9 with a 2.38 ERA. Wainwright, though, didnt pitch particularly well in his Game 1 start (6 runs, 11 hits, 6 1/3 innings) versus the Dodgers and his health has been called into question, as he has dealt with arm issues on-and-off throughout the season. Theres no question Waino has been fighting it, Matheny said. Ive not made that a secret, and neither has he. Its all going to come down to how he feels. The likelihood of him saying he cant go is very slim, but it is a possibility that something might not feel right. No pitcher in baseball has thrown more innings since the start of the 2013 season than Wainwright, who has logged 508 (including the postseason). Hes just been grinding, Matheny said. And when youve been grinding, there are just days where you cant get it right. He was having trouble that Game 1. Hes thrown a lot of innings. Hes had a lot of work. But thats what your ace does. San Francisco, meanwhile, is back in this round for the seventh time after beating the NLs best team, the Washington Nationals, in four games to win its seventh straight postseason series dating back to 2012. Washington had tied Game 4 on a Bryce Harper home run in the seventh inning, but the Giants went ahead to stay on a wild pitch in their half of the frame in the 3-2 win. They were determined not to get back on a plane and go to Washington, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of his team. We couldnt quite put the game away but we kept fighting and when they tied the game we put pressure right back on them. The Giants, of course, also beat Pittsburgh in the one-game wild card showdown last week, marking their seventh straight win-or-go-home victory under Bochy. Like St. Louis, San Francisco doesnt rely on the long ball and managed to leave the yard just once in the NLDS. The Giants still struggle to score runs and managed just nine in the four-game set with the Nationals. However, San Francisco did score eight in its wild card win over the Pirates. But the offense has been a problem for the Giants, particularly down the stretch, as they mustered a mere 44 runs over the final 15 games of the season. Thats our way sometimes, Bochy said. We scratch and paw for runs. Regardless, the Giants are in this position because of their starting staff, namely left-hander Madison Bumgarner, who gets the call on Saturday. If there was no Kershaw we may very well be talking about an NL Cy Young Award for Bumgarner, who set career-high marks in wins (18) and strikeouts (219) and pitched to a 2.98 ERA. That has carried over into the postseason, as he tossed a four-hit shutout to beat the Pirates, but then absorbed the lone loss in the NLDS for the Giants, but only allowed two earned runs in seven innings. Bumgarner was also one of the best road pitchers in the league this season, going 11-4 with a 2.22 ERA in 18 starts away from AT&T Park. His shutout win in the wild card game also came as a visitor. The Giants took four of their seven meetings during the season with the Cardinals, outscoring them, 30-20. The teams, though, havent played since July 3. San Francisco has played the Cardinals three other times in the playoffs. St. Louis edged the Giants in a thrilling seven-game series in 1987, but San Francisco has beaten the Cards both in 2002 and 2012. Nike Shox Sale Outlet . And rest hardly led to rust for the two-time defending NBA champions. Nike Shox Cheap Online . Tyutin has missed the last nine games with an ankle injury which occurred while playing for Russia at the Olympics. The top-two defenceman has four goals and 20 assists, 30 penalty minutes and a plus-6 rating in 53 games with Columbus this season. http://www.cheapnikeshoxretro.com/.1 Sam Stosur will meet Germanys second-ranked player Andrea Petkovic in the opening match of the Fed Cup World Group semifinal. Cheap Nike Shox Retro . What they did need, the Devils got from Patrik Elias. Elias scored a power-play goal 40 seconds into overtime to give the New Jersey Devils a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars. Nike Shox Cheap Wholesale . Jones, from Winnipeg, built a 3-0 advantage after three ends by scoring two in the second and one in the third. Chinas skip Bingyu Wang cut that lead to 3-1 in the fourth before Canada added another three in the fifth for a 6-1 lead. Tim Duncan could have easily gone out on top, with his fifth NBA championship trophy under his arm and his health intact just a few months after his 38th birthday. Theres just no way. Duncan is having too much fun with his San Antonio Spurs coaches and teammates, and hes playing too well to call it quits now. Duncan has decided to exercise the option on his contract for 2014-15 and will return next season, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Monday. The person requested anonymity because an official announcement has not been made. As the Spurs beat the two-time defending champion Miami Heat in the NBA Finals earlier this month, Duncan was asked several times about his future, as he has been for the last five or six years. He was noncommittal, saying he would take some time after the season ended to mull his decision. But after Game 5, most of the Spurs said they expected the group to return and now Duncan has reached his decision, which was first reported by Yahoo! Sports. He will make about $10.3 million next season in the final year of a two-year agreement that was drawn up specifically to allow the Spurs the financial flexibility to surround Duncan with top-shelf talent. "He feels a responsibility to his teammates," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after the team won the championship. "He enjoys them. He wants to hang around as long as he can while hes useful and while hes having an impact on the game. He takes care of his body. He works out all summer long with a variety of different things, boxing, swimming. Hes very careful about what he puts in his body, so he does everything he can to maintain a level of play. "At some point," Popovich added, "that will stop." But not this year. When Duncan looked around at the Spurs, he saw every reason to come back and try to do just about the only thing the SSpurs havent done during his 17 years there -- win back-to-back titles.dddddddddddd In Popovich he has perhaps the best coach in the game, one who has established a culture of teamwork, success and stability that is unparalleled in the league. In Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, he has two trusted teammates who have been by his side for years, have sacrificed money, fame and statistics right along with him to build the Spurs organization into the envy of the NBA. And in Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, Duncan has a young, fresh-faced star on the rise to carry more of the load as the Big Three get older. "With the front office putting the teams together that weve had and us playing smaller roles and our roles changing over the years, and us happy to accept the roles that were in, I feel we can do it until we feel we dont want to do it anymore," Duncan said two weeks ago. Perhaps as important as anything, Duncan is still one of the best big men in the league. He was named first team All-NBA in 2012-13 as he helped the Spurs to the finals, where they lost to the Heat in a heart-breaking seven-game series. This season, Duncan averaged 15.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in just 29.2 minutes per game, playing in a system expertly devised by Popovich to limit the wear and tear on his body. He shot almost 57 per cent in the finals and dismantled Heat star Chris Bosh, who grew up with a Duncan poster on his bedroom wall. "Weve been on our last run for the last five or six years from how everyone wants to put it," Duncan said. "We show up every year, and we try to put together the best teams and the best runs possible because what people say doesnt matter to us. "As I said, as long as we feel were being effective, were going to stay out here and were going to play. We feel like we can be effective, and we have been." ' ' '