ST. LOUIS — During two mind-bending baseball games at Busch Stadium, I counted heart palpitations instead of pitches. Forget buying the peanuts and Crackerjack; was there a defibrillator in the house?

Voices were lost. Fingernails disappeared. Sleep became more elusive than base hits. Each swing of the bat produced a swing of the mood. There was standing room ... but no room to breathe. The only relief came from the Cardinals bullpen.

The first two games of the NL championship series between the Dodgers and Cardinals were decided by a run, and by inches.

The Cardinals won a 3-2 stress test that roiled on for 13 innings on Friday night. (And yeah, at times it was as nerve wracking as watching the horror movie "Friday the 13th" )

The home team persevered again on Saturday afternoon, winning by a 1-0 score that elevated blood-pressure rates around St. Louis.

The Dodgers lost two games; everyone who watched it lost years off their lives. As the Cardinals and Dodgers headed to Southern California on Saturday night, fans were headed for the fainting couch.

You may now resume breathing.

The Cardinals have opened a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven NLCS. If they can win two of the next three scheduled for Dodger Stadium, they'll move on to the World Series.

What a weekend at Busch.

It was the best of times.

And it was the worst of times ... for your health.

"These two games are everything that you want � but at the same time, don't want," Cardinals reliever John Axford said. "If we're going to continue like this, it's going to be physically and emotionally exhausting for everyone involved.

"Not just the players but I think the fans as well. It's fantastic, it's the way you want it. It's high pressure, and it just feels better that way when you get a win. But at the same time it would be nice to relax a little bit."

The Dodgers were said to have an advantage with their Game 1 and Game 2 starters, Zack Geinke and Clayton Kershaw. And there was a lot of truth to that. Both pitchers were magnificent, masterful.

Greinke and Kershaw combined to pitch 14 innings. They were nicked for two earned runs and struck out 15, and the Cardinals had six hits in 45 at-bats (.133) against the Greinke-Kershaw buzzsaw.

The Cards have scored only four runs in the 22 innings played so far. And one of the runs (Saturday's) was unearned. The home team had a grand total of two hits in Game 2, and their NLCS batting average stands at .134.

Oh yeah, and the Cardinals WON both games.

The Dodgers are in deep, deep trouble.

They had their best pitchers lined up for the first two games. The pitchers were outstanding. And the Cardinals broke through for two wins.

"I can't imagine tougher games than that considering the starting pitching that we had to face," manager Mike Matheny said. "And there's so much going on out there. In Game 1 we were down by two runs with a good pitcher (Greinke) on the mound, and we had to fight back. And today just came down to trying to fight our way through again, knowing you won't get many chances against Kershaw.

"And then putting all of that on our young pitching which shut 'em down. Man."

The Cardinals young pitching resembles old-pro pitching.

Give them the ball, and watch them work, taking hitters down with a combination of unregulated fastball heat and surprisingly advanced guile.

The Game 1 starter, second-year pitcher Joe Kelly.

The Game 2 starter, rookie Michael Wacha.

The rookie relievers Seth Maness, Kevin Siegrist, Carlos Martinez, Trevor Rosenthal.

These kids need only two things: a baseball and guidance from catcher Yadier Molina.

"It's great having a guy behind the plate who can calm people when the situation is tough," Cards' rightfielder Carlos Beltran said. "He takes the time, he walks to the mound, he talks to them. I don't know what he says out there, but whatever he says, every time he comes back they throw strikes."

With the help of a few bullpen veterans, the Cards' boys club has backed the Dodgers into an ominous 0-2 corner. And they did so with considerable authority.

The Dodgers haven't scored since the third inning of Game 1. Since plating two runs in that inning Friday. In the first two games, Dodgers hitters struck out nearly 33 percent of the time, with 24 Ks in 76 at-bats. That's astonishing.

As for Wacha, well, the The Legend Continues. He pitched 6.2 shutout innings in Game 2, striking out eight, and now has allowed one run in his two postseason starts.

Saturday, whenever Wacha needed to make a big pitch, he did. Whenever he needed to obliterate the Dodgers' morale, he did. If he needed to out pitch Kershaw, no problem.

And when Wacha needed to win a charismatic, riveting, bases-loaded confrontation in the sixth inning with Dodgers' rookie enforcer Yasiel Puig � done. With aplomb. With a strikeout. With Busch Stadium in a state of collective delirium.

"It sounds like waves crashing on rocks," is the way legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully described the roar at Busch as Wacha and Puig threw down with Game 2 on the line.

Meanwhile, out in the St. Louis bullpen...

"We were holding our breath," reliever Randy Choate said. "You're just impressed by Wacha. To be in that situation, and he's 22 years old, and basically right out of college, is just impressive. He just came up huge. Down in the that kid's got special stuff."

The Cardinals beat Kershaw with a David Freese double, a passed ball, and a sacrifice fly by Jon Jay. That was all for the offense. But with this killer pitching, it was enough.

"I think that game was electric from start to finish," said Rosenthal, who struck out the side in the ninth for the save.

Game 2 was spectacular theater. The the kind of game that players love. The kind of game that leaves you hoarse, dizzy, and wiped out ... and begging for more.

"It's the best," Freese said. "It's the kind of game you want. You want to come up on top, that makes it so much better. But to go through games like that in the postseason, that's what you remember.

"You remember the (Chris) Carpenter, (Roy) Halladay showdown. You remember games like this. You don't remember the blowouts. Win or lose, you appreciate these games more. Years down the road, these are the games you talk about."

Even if theydotake a few years off your life.