Personal history and numbers don't always guide on-field performance, but they can give us a quick insight into who carries the advantage -- if ever so slight -- into a particular game. Tale O' Tape breaks down the starting pitchers to find an edge. Thus far, we've accurately predicted six of the eight advantages in starting pitching based upon the stats.

Tonight, the Red Sox are in the same position as the Dodgers were last night ... facing a 3-1 deficit at home. In this installment, Scott Kazmir is staring down the home team, and Daisuke Matsuzaka looks to play savior on the hill.

Daisuke Matsuzaka

Personally - Dice is only below average when it comes to control and -- as a direct result -- piling up pitch counts which prevent him from working deep into games from time to time. His 2.90 regular season ERA, 18-3 record, and 8.27 K/9 are all quite solid. He also walked 94 batters in only 167 2/3 innings.

Home Splits - He's quite a bit worse at home, but he's not really bad anywhere. His home ERA is 3.34 (only 2.37 on the road), and his only three losses all came in Fenway. Of course, he won nine there. Opponents his .236 against Dice-K at home, but there is a problem ... and that problem is his control problems caused him to allow a .344 OBP at home. That's a lot of baserunners for a guy that needs to win the game.

History Against Tampa - As we covered before Game 1, his history against the Rays hadn't been sparkling. His problem, as usual, had been control. Last time out, he was dialed in, garnering the Red Sox only victory of the series. He actually had a no-no going for a while, and only needed two innings from the bullpen behind him. The final line showed seven scoreless innings and nine strikeouts. He did start to get knocked around a bit before the end of the outing and walk four.

Vs. Specific Hitters - We also covered the very small sample he has with most hitters before Game 1. In Game 1, the four singles were from Cliff Floyd, Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, and Akinori Iwamura. Crawford and Iwamura -- who continued his solid run against Dice -- also reached base via walk. The other two walks were to Carlos Pena, so maybe Dice was given orders to avoid Pena in light of their brief history.

Scott Kazmir

Personally - As Mullet explained before last outing, Kaz hasn't looked overly solid in a long time. He didn't work into the seventh inning at all after July 21st, a span in which he started 12 times and compiled a 4.48 ERA. He's going to strike a ton of guys out, while being susceptible to the long-ball. Last outing was not pretty. He allowed six hits, 5 earned runs, three walks, and three home runs in only 4 1/3 innings. His strikeouts were even low by his standards, with only two.

Road Splits - Not good here, Rays fans. Kaz is way worse on the road than within the confines of the Trop. The innings pitched are nearly identical, but almost every category is worse on the road. He was 4-6 with a 4.10 ERA on the road (compared to 8-2, 2.90). Hitters hit about 50 points higher against him on the road and have clubbed five more home runs. One oddity, he walks a ton less batters on the road (45 at home, 25 on the road). Maybe he shouldn't be so fine with his pitches on the road and he'd give up less taters?

History Against Boston - Again, before Game 2, Mullet described the history as "ugly." A couple paragraphs above I discussed a not-so-pretty outing against those same Red Sox. His career numbers in Fenway, though, are not bad at all. He's 4-4, but sports a really nice 3.02 ERA in 62 2/3 innings. And he's only allowed four homers there.

Vs. Specific Hitters - David Ortiz still can't figure him out, but Dustin Pedroia surely has sweet dreams of digging in against Scott Kazmir. His career numbers before last game were disgusting, and then he tacked on two home runs for good measure. Kevin Youkilis had a poor history, but homered to send Kazmir to the showers last time around. Jason Bay, while the sample is limited, has pretty much owned Kazmir as well. He's now 4-11 (.364) with a double, home run, and four RBI.

Edge

The edge is clearly to Dice-K. He should give the Red Sox at least one more try ... and after the way last year's ALCS went down, they'll definitely have the confidence they can come back.