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2:07AM EDT October 15. 2012 - SAN FRANCISCO — Roaring back from a 6-0 deficit with four runs in the fourth inning Sunday, the San Francisco Giants knocked out starter Lance Lynn and seemed to have the St. Louis Cardinals right where they wanted them.

It was a trap.

Getting Lynn out of the game only unleashed the Cardinals relievers, who have become a force in the second half of the season and the playoffs.

The St. Louis bullpen not only quelled the rally, but held the Giants to two singles and no runs in the final 5 1/3 innings as the Cardinals prevailed 6-4 in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.

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San Francisco's bullpen tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings as well, as both groups of relievers totaled 10 2/3 innings without giving up a run, an LCS record.

Considering the clubs combined for one quality start in their respective Division Series — by St. Louis' Kyle Lohse in Game 4 against the Washington Nationals — there's a fair chance the bullpens could be the determining factor in this series.

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If that's the case, the Cardinals' power arms may give them an edge.

"It's a very aggressive bullpen," Giants outfielder Gregor Blanco said. "As Hector Sanchez told Yadier (Molina) when he came up to bat, 'Wow, you guys don't have any average pitchers. They're all aggressive power pitchers.'"

In fact, the Cardinals had the hardest-throwing bullpen in the league this season, with an average fastball velocity of 94.5 mph. Rookie Trevor Rosenthal (97.4), closer Jason Motte (97.1) and Mitchell Boggs (95.7) averaged better than 95 mph with their heaters.

"It's really tough to step in the box and hit 98-100 the first time," Cardinals first baseman Allen Craig said. "And those guys were throwing strikes too. It's not just 98 all over the place. They're throwing strikes, so you have to be aggressive, and that's tough to do as a hitter."

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny seemed to be taking a risk in burning the only lefty on his roster, Marc Rzepcynski, to retire Brandon Belt with two outs and two runners on in the fifth.

Surely with five Giants hitters swinging from the left side, including switch-hitters Angel Pagan and Pablo Sandoval, that would leave St. Louis vulnerable.

Except sheer power tends to neutralize matchup advantages. So in came a procession of fireballers, with Edward Mujica being the relative soft-tosser — his fastball averaged 91.9 mph during the season — but in many ways the most impressive.

The seven-year veteran from Venezuela, acquired in a trade-deadline deal with the Miami Marlins, struck out Marco Scutaro, Sandoval and Buster Posey — all swinging — in the seventh inning to earn the win.

"I think this is the second time in my career I've struck out the side," Mujica said. "I did it one time after coming over to St. Louis. I try to make my best pitch to get a fly ball or a grounder, so I cherish having gotten the three strikeouts."

That was part of a string of nine consecutive Giants retired by the St. Louis relievers in the final innings until Pagan singled with two outs in the ninth. Motte then got Scutaro on a game-ending groundout.

"They shut us down and we couldn't do much with their bullpen," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "They have some great arms coming out."

So, what to do against them? This, after all, is the same set of relievers that allowed St. Louis to mount its epic comeback in Game 5 against the Nationals by holding them to four hits and one run in the last 6 2/3 innings.

The bullpen was often shaky during the first half of the season, but with Mujica's addition and Rosenthal's emergence, it transformed into one of the Cardinals' strengths. It has allowed just six earned runs in 24 2/3 postseason innings for a 2.19 ERA.

"They have a lot of movement on the ball, they can keep you off-balance, they can make you chase their pitch," Belt said. "So the best thing to do is go up there with a plan, stick to it and make them come in the zone."

Sometimes even that doesn't work.