Look at Kershaw to see how Cardinals can wreck an ace in the playoffs

Not a team in baseball in more than 2 ½ months has beaten Jake Arrieta. Not a team that has allowed the Cubs even a single hit has done it since June. Not the New York Mets, not the Los Angeles Dodgers, not the St. Louis Cardinals, not the Pittsburgh Pirates — before or during the playoffs.

So the Cardinals on Monday, at home, in Game 3 of the National League Division Series? Not a chance? Not so fast. If there’s one team in baseball that knows how to beat the best pitcher on the planet in the playoffs, it’s the Cardinals, who did it four times over the last two postseasons.

‘‘ I think there’s something to be said about that,’’ manager Mike Matheny said when asked how their success against Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw in the playoffs the last two years will help Monday against Cy Young favorite Arrieta. ‘‘ We’ve gone up against a number of teams and a number of pitchers where everybody kind of ruled us out. And this team has responded well in the past.’’

The Cardinals, in fact, are disproportionately responsible for tagging Kershaw, the most dominant pitcher in baseball in recent years, with the label of postseason flop. Kershaw won the last two NL Cy Young Awards, going 37- 12 with a 1.81 ERA in 60 starts over those two seasons, but he went 0- 4 with a 7.15 ERA in four playoff starts against the Cards, two in the ’ 13 NL Championship Series, two in last year’s division series.

‘‘ I feel like we’re a different ballclub with Jake on the mound; he sets the tone,’’ Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo said. ‘‘ But that’s a great team. They find ways to win against any pitcher. So we’ve got to show up on Monday and be ready.’’

Before those four run- ins with the Cardinals the last two years, Kershaw was 1- 1 with a 2.59 ERA in four postseason starts.

And the Cardinals didn’t do it with any single hitting hero, secret weapon off the bench or power binge. In Game 1 of the division series last year, trailing by four opening the seventh, they did it like this: single, single, single, single, strikeout, single, strikeout, double.

Kershaw didn’t make it out of the inning; the Dodgers didn’t make it out of the series. Five of the six Cardinals with hits in that inning are on this year’s playoff roster.

‘‘ It’s something to have in the archives,’’ Matheny said, ‘‘ but that doesn’t necessarily automatically turnintoanykindofproduction. More so than anything else, I think it keeps our club from being overwhelmed by maybe all the noise that comes along with amatchup like this.’’

The Cardinals also were a rare speed bump in Madison Bumgarner’s historic postseason run for the World Series champion San Francisco Giants last year ( 1.03 ERA in 52⅔ innings). He gave up as many earned runs ( three) in an eight- inning start against the Cardinals in the NLCS as he did the entire rest of the postseason, with the Cardinals leading most of that game until losing after the bullpens took over.

Advantage against lefties? The Cardinals hit left- handers slightly better than righties last year. This year they’ve hit right- handers better by a bigger margin (. 261 to .230 batting, .326 to .307 on- base percentage, .736 to .662 OPS).

And they already have handed Arrieta one of his six losses, though it came on May 7, almost seven weeks before his record run of 21 consecutive quality starts ( 17- 1, 0.81) through last week’s wild- card game.

‘‘ Obviously, going up against Arrieta, he’s a great pitcher,’’ Cardinals starter Michael Wacha said, ‘‘ but you just have to worry about your own game. You can’t worry about who’s on the other side.’’

He should know the blueprint. Despite a miserable September ( 2- 3, .788) that included two losses to the Cubs, Wacha has played this role before— the winning pitcher as a rookie in both 2013 postseason wins against Kershaw, including a 1- 0 game.

Not that any of this means the Cardinals will look any better against Arrieta than anyone else.

‘‘ I just intend to keep us in the game,’’ Arrieta said, ‘‘ regardless of the circumstances, whatever comes up. But I like my chances to go out there and win us a ballgame.’’