MILWAUKEE — Brewers manager Ron Roenicke claimed he wasn’t going to lose any sleep last night if starting pitcher Shaun Marcum didn’t perform well in Game 6 of the NLCS.

After his team’s season ended with a 12-6 loss to the Cardinals, the manager wasn’t changing his tune. There had been cries for Roenicke to use ace Yovani Gallardo on short rest.

“I know it was the right decision,” Roenicke said after Marcum allowed four runs in one inning of work. “With the options that we had, these guys pitched well all year. I still thought they had good starts in them.”

Marcum finished the postseason 0-3 with a 14.89 ERA.

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Tony La Russa, who guided the A’s to three consecutive World Series appearances in the 1980s, said it’s impressive the Rangers are headed to their second straight.

“That’s hard to do in the major leagues,” said La Russa, who also managed the Cardinals to victory over Detroit in the 2006 World Series.

But the Cardinals manager couldn’t hide his disappointment that close friend Jim Leyland, the Tigers manager, is headed home for the winter.

“You don’t want to get blown out in an elimination game,” La Russa said, referring to the Tigers’ 15-5 loss Saturday night.

“It did not reflect that series. The Tigers were very competitive. Better to get beaten in the ninth inning with a home run by [Nelson] Cruz than to go through what they went through.”

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La Russa indicated his NLCS tactic of using the bullpen for four-plus innings every night would not work for an extended period in the regular season.

“It could not be sustained,” La Russa said. “This is more the urgency of, usually a pivotal game or two in each of the best of five, best of seven.”

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With the series ending in six games, the Cardinals will have Chris Carpenter in position to pitch Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday. He’ll be opposed by C.J. Wilson.