Major League Baseball

Verlander vs. Reyes is battle of best

Published Jun. 29, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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Tigers ace Justin Verlander is the most fascinating pitcher in baseball right now.

Jose Reyes, the Mets' kinetic marvel, is his must-see counterpart.

Around 1:05 p.m. ET today, Reyes will step into the left-handed batter's box at Comerica Park. Verlander will stand on the mound — 60 feet, 6 inches away. And then we will witness a competition between two men at the absolute peak of their respective professions.

Right now, baseball can offer no higher entertainment than these 28-year-old superstars — one from Goochland, Va., the other from Santiago, Dominican Republic.

“That's true,” confirmed Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who knows something about elite performance. “Just like (Reyes), Verlander can do whatever he wants. They're dominating the game right now. It's amazing.

“I'm proud to play with Verlander, to see this guy every five nights do what he can do. You feel good about all your pitchers, but this guy is something special ... He's not normal.”

The Mets utter the same superlatives when asked about Reyes — especially lately. The dynamic shortstop rapped four hits in back-to-back games this week and collected another two (routine, right?) in New York's 16-9 drubbing of Detroit on Wednesday.

Reyes leads the National League in batting average (.349), hits (119), runs (65), triples (15) and multi-hit games (41). He's hardly a small-ball player. “He told me, ‘I'm going to bunt,’” Cabrera said, recalling a conversation the two had prior to the series. “I said, ‘You're not going to waste your time bunting. You're feeling too good swinging.’”

Reyes has the lowest strikeout rate of any NL hitter. Well, he's about to face the foremost strikeout pitcher in the American League — a guy who is 8-0 with a 1.77 ERA (not to mention a no-hitter) in his past 11 starts.

Game on.

“I can't wait,” Reyes said with a smile, after the Mets won for the sixth time in seven games. “He's one of the best pitchers in the game. There's no doubt. We're going to see what happens … We're going to go with the same attitude (we've had) the past couple days. Nothing's going to change for us. We're going to go to home plate with the same plan.”

That plan, by the way, has netted 52 runs over the past four games — a team record.

“He's very, very, very good,” Mets manager Terry Collins said of Verlander. “But no disrespect to him at all, we've faced a lot of good ones, when you talk about Doc (Halladay) and (Tim) Lincecum and Josh Johnson. We've faced a bunch of them. We're going to face another one (now). We'll be ready.”

Reyes has little history against Verlander — one single in two career at-bats — but it's not as if the switch-hitting dynamo is a mystery to the AL. Verlander has seen Reyes' exploits on the highlight shows. He's aware that Reyes leads the free world in triples. He acknowledges that he's about to contest with “one of the best players in baseball.”

And Verlander watched from the dugout as Reyes went 6 for 10 with four runs scored during the first two games of this series, both New York victories.

So, perhaps just this once, Verlander's no-hitter-until-proven-otherwise will be in jeopardy on the game's first pitch.

“If he gets on, then I've got to face the next guy,” Verlander said. “But obviously, with a guy like him, you've got to do all you can to keep him off base.”

Reyes demonstrated why in the first inning of Wednesday's win: He led off with a single, took second when Cabrera missed a pickoff throw, stole third without a throw and scored on a wild pitch by erratic Detroit starter Phil Coke. No hits necessary.

Reyes is famous for either stealing second base or kicking past it at warp speed en route to a triple. He could become the majors' first 30-triple man since Chief Wilson of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1912. But right now, his most impressive statistic could be a “1” — as in, the number of triples that involved a close play at third, according to Mets first base coach Mookie Wilson.

“You need something like that, to keep the game from being same-old, same-old, every day,” said Wilson, the Mets' franchise leader in triples — before Reyes came along. “It's a difference when Jose Reyes hits the ball. Then he gets on base, and that's another aspect of his game. Defense — there's another aspect. He's liable to show you something in any inning.”

The atmosphere in downtown Detroit should match the occasion.

Verlander's most recent start drew the first sellout to Comerica Park since Opening Day — and included a stirring ovation after he completed eight shutout innings. Earlier this month, late-arriving fans bought tickets when he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Cleveland Indians.

“I want to pitch well for this team, this organization, this city,” Verlander said. “For them to come and show that appreciation, it's been fantastic.”

Generally, when we get excited about a game-within-a-game, it's because of the two starting pitchers — Cliff Lee vs. Josh Beckett, for example. This is different and maybe even a little better. No one bought a ticket for Tuesday's game in Philadelphia to watch Lee, the pitcher, against Beckett, the hitter. Their competition was indirect. It will be different today in Detroit.

This is baseball's slice of Reggie Wayne/Darrelle Revis or Kobe Bryant/Bruce Bowen. Reyes is baseball's most dynamic run scorer. Verlander is baseball's most dynamic run stopper.

Let's see what happens today, just after 1 o'clock.

“There's going to be a lot of expectations,” Cabrera said. “I've got to go with my guy. I've got to go with Verlander.”

Then the big guy grinned.

“Hopefully we get him out.”

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