From Lady At The Bat

The Yankees will face their toughest opponent this postseason when they face off against the Philadelphia Phillies tonight at the new Yankee Stadium.

How do these two teams stack up against each other? Here's a preview:

Offense: Everyone knows about the Yankees' potent lineup. It's the most powerful in all of baseball. But don't count the Phillies out in this area. Philadelphia has some great hitters, and Ryan Howard can go head-to-head with Alex Rodriguez anytime. Almost. Alex is still the best player in the game. Edge, Yankees.

Defense: The Yankees' weak defensive outfield hurts them, but their infield keeps their overall defense respectable. The Phillies are loaded defensively, pretty much from top to bottom. Edge, Phillies.

Starting Pitching: Let's see, for the Phillies you have Cliff Lee, Pedro Martinez, Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton. For the Yankees, you have CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Andy Pettitte and Chad Gaudin. Cole Hamels is the wild card in the Phillies rotation. If he can somehow right himself the Phillies would have more of a chance in this area. However, if he hasn't found it so far, he's probably not going to find it in this Series. Burnett's inconsistency is a problem, but CC Sabathia is far superior to Cliff Lee. Edge, Yankees.

Bullpen: The Yankees went into the postseason with the bullpen as one of their major strengths. Though it has not lived up to it's regular season glory, it  is still, hands down, better than the Phillies pen. Edge, Yankees.

Bench: Miguel Cairo was dropped from the Phillies roster yesterday. Too bad. He's one of the best bench players in MLB. Now, compared to the Yankees, Philadelphia doesn't have much of a bench. Guys like Jerry Hairston, Jr, and Eric Hinske, who is on a World Series roster for the third straight year, give the Yankees solid support behind the starting lineup. Edge, Yankees.

Prediction: The Yankees are better than the Phillies but the Phillies won't go quietly. Yankees in 7.