Haven?t we done this dance before in 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2004? Well, it was so much fun that both teams have decided to go at it one more time. With what should be another intense, passion field series, here is how I see it breaking down: Pitching We start with pitching because as everyone knows, pitching is what wins comes in October. Well, the starting pitching is almost a dead heat with the best overall collection of arms of any playoff series in the first round. With Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, and Roy Oswalt, the Astros posses the best three starters in baseball, but the Braves also have some quality arms. Tim Hudson and John Smoltz were both brought to the rotation for games like these and Jorge Sosa might be the hottest pitcher of the three. However, the Astros begin to separate themselves with their vastly better bullpen. It ends with Brad Lidge, who is about as automatic from the closer position as we have in the game. Along with quality set-up guys like Chad Qualls and Dan Wheeler, the Astros will prove to be very tough in the late innings. The Braves on the other hand have struggled all year with their bullpen and are just hoping that Kyle Farnsworth can be the answer in the ninth. Defense While most people might overlook this phase of the game, but it is vital for the success of a team. Defense will be a primary cause of the winners and losers because of the great pitching that will be on display. The pitchers won?t make many mistakes and when they do, whosever?s defense can limit the damage will have a definite advantage. The Braves win this category in a landslide because they might have the three best defensive players in the series. Andruw Jones and Rafael Furcal are by far the top two and Jeff Francoeur has a cannon for an arm in right field. The Astros themselves boast some quality defenders in centerfield Willie Tavares and catcher Brad Ausmus, but it isn?t enough to compete on this level with the Braves. Hitting Lets not beat around the bush on this topic and just throw out the obvious. Neither of these teams can hit average pitching, so what are they going to do in this series? The answer is not much, but the key will be who can get those timely hits. It is so close with which team has the edge, but you have to go with proven commodities. In this regard, the Braves get the nod based on the Jones boys, Chipper and Andruw. Chipper has showed time and again that he is a pressure player who always has his best games when the lights are the brightest. Andruw on the other hand has struggled in pressure situations in the past, but based on his numbers this past season, that trend may by changing. The Astros are anemic on offense, but they have to be hoping that guys like Lance Berkman and Morgan Ensberg can recapture the magic that Carlos Beltran had last October Final Word The key to this series will be whether or not the Braves can get to the Astros starters early, so that they can?t go deep into games and hand a lead to their bullpen. This challenge must be met by the Braves? table setters, Rafael Furcal and Marcus Giles. If they are successful, then it will relieve pressure off of the Braves bullpen because they will have more runs to play with. If they aren?t, then the Braves might be looking at another first round exit.