John Lackey is big. He stands 6 ‘6” and weighs in at 205 lbs. He’s a Texas boy born and bread, with a large ugly mug and a hefty waddle. The homely looking southerner has played fantastically against the Yankees in the playoffs, winning game one in both 2002 and 2005, with an ERA of 1.88 against the Yankees in the playoffs all time.

Lackey looked strong in his only performance so far this postseason. He beat the Red Sox, a team that had beaten him twice in the playoffs prior, to help his team sweep the most obnoxious team in sports. In that game he pitched 7.1 innings, allowed only 4 hits, and no runs. He has beaten CC once already this season capturing a victory in his only start versus the Yankees in ‘09.

Now if I were to leave out this next little bit I’m sure a lot of you people would run off thinking Lackey has this first start in the bag. That, paired with the results of the last two postseason series’ they’ve had against the Yankees, must equal a no doubt shut out for Lackey right? But that’s the thing about numbers in a game like baseball, you can manipulate them however you’d like.

But I’m not going to leave this out. Lackey versus the Yankees is 5-7 with a 4.66 ERA for his career. The Yankees have beaten him more than he’s beaten them. He’s a crafty pitcher that uses his moving fastball to set up his breaking balls and off speed pitches.

If he’s on, he can put the ball all over the dish, wherever he wants it. If he’s on, the Yankee will have to attack him early in at-bats. They’ll have to get on base and ruin his rhythm. You don’t want a guy like Lackey flowing and getting ahead of batters early.

CC Sabathia is bigger. He stands 6’7” weighing in at 250 lbs with a size 58 shoe. He’s a Bay Area boy who walks like a swagger driven pigeon. He takes up more of the dugout than Ramiro Pena and Hairston Jr. combined. He has not had such good luck against the Angels. He’s lost both his starts against them this season and hasn’t looked much better than mediocre in those games. He gives up a lot of hits and lets them get on base; something you can never do when playing the Angels.

Like Lackey, CC has looked rather strong in his only performance this postseason. He threw 6.2 innings allowing only one earned run and striking out 8. Until Friday when he hopefully performs even better, that start against the Twins will stand as the best postseason performance of his career.

CC is coming off an impressive season with the Yankees as he ties his career high in wins with a record of 19-8. Even with his slow start, CC has shown that he is the strongman and ace of this Yankee staff. He has no problem throwing the team on his back and slinging 100+ pitches. He’ll take you deep into the game and is obviously hungry for his first World Series ring.

These two pitchers are big, angry, ugly and talented. They each have the responsibility of being the ace of their respective staffs. CC represents the largest city in the US and Lackey the second largest (population). Lackey has been with this squad since 2002; his rookie season and the year the Angels won it all. CC has bounced around a little bit and found himself being the highest paid pitcher in the most expensive city in the world, dying to return to World Series glory. Both have a lot of pressure and both look like they can handle that pressure.

The key to this match up is who can last longer. And although the Yankees have a strong bullpen, the longer CC stays in the better it is for them. And although Lackey has had good luck against the bombers recently and looked impressive against the BoSox last week, I think in this battle CC we prevail.

The Yankees have a better bullpen all around. They have better middle relief and a much better closer. The Yankee bullpen has improved since their last playoff meeting, while the Angels has worsened having lost Frannie Rodriguez. The Yankees can rely on their bullpen a little more than the Angels can. Los Angeles has no answer for Mo or Alfredo Aceves. And if Hughes can shake off his first series performance and pitch like he did after transforming into the 8^th inning man, they will have the most reliable bullpen out of the 4 remaining teams (that’s right Torre, I said it).

Another reason why I have to give this game to the Yanks is because of their ability to hit late. The Yankee hitters can ware on a pitching staff, never going away and always threatening. Everyone can get the big hit, and has, 1 thru 9. They have the most come from behind victories and the most walk offs in the majors. If the Yankees can continue to plug away at opposing pitching staffs and have tougher at bats as the game wears on, then they’ll be able to beat any staff that takes the hill.

Assuming both starters perform like they are expected to, I think its safe to say that the Yankees start off this series with a W.