Justin Verlander, the winner of last season's AL MVP and Cy Young awards, is no longer Detroit's only ace.

Max Scherzer has pitched that well this season and recently has been employing a curveball that he tried to keep under the radar.

"Are we finally announcing it?" he asked with a smile. "I've been trying to keep it down."

The pitch hadn't been mentioned for a month because Scherzer mixed it so well with his slider that it just never became obvious.

Scherzer leads the Major Leagues in strikeouts, one more than Verlander. He is 9-1 with a 2.61 ERA in his past 13 starts, averaging around 6 2/3 innings a game while limiting his opponents to a .223 average.