LDS 2 preview: Mussina vs. Verlander

This looks to be a pitching duel on paper.
2006 overall: Mussina, 15-7, 3.51 era vs. Verlander, 17-9, 3.63 era
2006 2nd half: Mussina, 5-4, 3.96 era vs. Verlander, 7-5, 4.54 era
Both pitchers pitched worse in the latter half of the year.

Verlander vs. Yanks (career)
1 start (June 1), no decision, 10.80 era, 5 ip

Yanks vs. Verlander (career ops, at-bats)
Damon, 1.000 (3)
Jeter, ---
Abreu, ---
Sheff, ---
Giambi, 2.333 (3)
Arod, .667 (1)
Matsui, ---
Posada, 1.667 (2)
Cano, 1.667 (3)
Melky, .333 (2)

So most of the lineup has never faced him. But in his only game against the Yanks, he got pasted, namely by Giambi, Posada and Cano. It'll be interesting to see how the rest of the lineup (who haven't faced him) fare tonight. I'm anxious because our 2-4 hitters have never seen him.

Mussina vs. Detroit ('04-'06)
4 starts, 2-1, 3.54 era, 28 ip
In his only outing against Detroit this year (late May), he dominated: 9 ip, 0 er.

Detroit vs. Mussina (career ops, at-bats)
Granderson, .833 (3)
Polanco, .286 (7)
Casey, 1.667 (3)
Ordonez, .788 (35)
Guillen, .372 (29)
Irod, .599 (63)
Monroe, .500 (8)
Thames, 1.500 (4)
Inge, .500(12)

What scares me is that the middle of the lineup has seen Mussina a lot - yet with varying success. Granderson, Casey and Thames have hit him well in limited action - but that should drop off when they get more at-bats. Most of the lineup has not fared well against Moose: Guillen, Irod, Monroe, Inge and Polanco. But the guys who scare me are Casey and Ordonez.

I'll be at tonight's game behind home-plate (just to the 3rd base side). I'll wave to y'all.