Verlander continues to head for the MVP

Verlander and Valverde continue to dominate

Valverde now has 46 saves in 46 chances. Verlander was again untouchable, allowing only three singles. That gives him a 24-5 record with an no-hitter earlier in the year, and he's allowed only 166 hits in 244 innings. He has won his last 12 starts in the heat of the pennant race, and the heat is not off yet, because the Tigers are still going all-out for home field advantage. They are playing so well that it is no longer merely a matter of winning more games than the Rangers to get the edge in the first round. They have a chance to win more than the Yankees (they are down 91-89), which would give them the home field edge throughout the playoffs. Such an idea was unthinkable a month ago. Moreover, if they finish with the same amount of wins as the Yankees, they have the tie-breaker because they won the season series 4-3. They also won the season series against the Rangers, so they have that tie-breaker as well.

Verlander's Cy Young is now a no-brainer. It should be unanimous.

MVP buzz continues to grow as well, because there is just no single candidate to challenge him. If the voting had been held at the end of July, Jose Bautista would have been the man, but Bautista batted .261 in August and .245 in September, and plays for the also-ran Blue Jays. The next highest guy in OPS is Verlander's own teammate, Miguel Cabrera. The Yankees, Rangers and Red Sox have won with a whole bunch of guys who have been about equally good. Adrian Gonzalez, who once seemed to be an MVP front runner, has slumped at crunch time. He's hitting .143 in the last nine games, during which the Sox have gone 2-7 and placed their playoff hopes in jeopardy while Adrian himself has placed his batting championship in danger.

If there was a position player who stood out above the others, Verlander might lose the votes of those who are on the fence about whether a pitcher should be MVP, but V seems to have the field open and is winning converts every time he takes the mound. I won't be surprised if he wins both trophies.