Boswell explains

The book on this series was that Verlander, who won 24 games in ’11 and captured his third strikeout crown this year, would be to the key to the battle.

Maybe he will be. But not in the way that was expected. Verlander has a nemesis...

Verlander has been so spectacular that, at 29, he really is more than halfway to Cooperstown. How can you be so great and yet still face high places that remain so treacherous and hostile? Are these highlight nights, starting an All-Star Game or the first game of a World Series, the places where Verlander wants to shine so brightly that he somehow dims his own star? Or is there just one large Panda who has his number and has changed the whole arc of Verlander’s season and perhaps the Tigers’, too.

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A friend who knows a lot about pitching asks "what do you throw to a bad ball hitter?"