Mike Mussina ran his record to 7-0 with another dominating performance Wednesday night in Seattle. Moose struck out 12 and kept his team in the game until they could get loose against Joel Pineiro.

Mussina is throwing a lot of pitches. Last night, he threw 114 in eight innings. At his age, he must be watched carefully because he will be expected to go to the post 34 times before October.

Mussina will open up any playoff series the Yankees are in. I don’t trust David Wells, Roger Clemens, Jeff Weaver, or Andy Pettitte in the big game. Mussina is the one that must lead this staff, scary for a team that MUST win.

How do the A’s stack up against NY?

Click below and I’ll match them up.At first base, Jason Giambi clearly has the nod over Scott Hatteberg, in fact if I was the A’s I would begin to worry about Hatteberg’s lack of agility around first base. With Tejada and Chavez routinely bouncing throws to first this season, Hatteberg is having trouble around the keystone sack every day.

Second base clearly, Alfonso Soriano over Mark Ellis.

Shortstop gets interesting. Both teams need big years out of this position. Derek Jeter will be back shortly. Miguel Tejada has taken the first six weeks of the season off. When it is all said and done, Tejada will be where he should be (leading the team) and Jeter will stabilize the top of the Yankee order. So, it’s a toss up.

Third base. When Eric Chavez starts playing with some intensity (usually when the pitchers start to tire in July and August), he will clearly outdistance Todd Zeile and Robin Ventura.

Outfield is Yankees all the way. The A’s are not as much of an adventure as last year, but they still make you wonder if they will make the plays that define championship teams. The Yankees have good arms and veteran bats, even though I’m not sold on Hideki Matsui as an all star caliber player.

Catcher. Jorge Posada is throwing well all of a sudden, but Ramon Hernandez handles his staff much better. Posada and Hernandez are a close call, I’ll give it to Hernandez because I think he will hit .275 this season and that’s enough for Oakland.

Starting pitching. The A’s big three is more reliable than the Yankees three starters, whoever you want to choose. The A’s big three can and do shut the Yankees down with regularity, whether it is in October or May, no difference, they can pitch and dominate this Yankee line up.

Ted Lilly and John Halama are still full season question marks, but in a short series I’ll take Oakland without a doubt because these two won’t be needed.

Bull pen. Mariano Rivera over Keith Foulke, but there is something I like about Foulke. He is crazy enough to be a good closer and when he gets you down in the count he can put you away. I’ll bet he ends up with as many saves as Rivera.

Set up men. Close call. The A’s play the matchup game quite well. Jim Mecir, Ricardo Rincon, and Chad Bradford can get it done if they are spotted very carefully. Juan Acevedo, Chris Hammond, and whoever else the Yankees use, are not Jeff Nelson and Mike Stanton from year’s past. So, I’ll take the A’s pen because of their depth, but they do make me nervous, especially Bradford.

DH. Good argument. Nick Johnson has a great eye at the plate. Erubiel Durazo is just as good and more established as a hitter right now. Both men play a big part in his team’s offense. I’ll take either one on my team.

The Yankees have the better bench. The A’s bench doesn’t do much for me. The disparity in payroll shows up when looking at the bench players, but don’t get me wrong this is not a great Yankee bench either.

So, the A’s match up pretty well with the high rent New Yorkers.

And you know what, since pitching is considered 75 to 90 % of the game, I’m putting my money on Oakland to knock these guys off this year.

Only Mike Mussina and the Yankee mystique stand in their way.