Note to O's hurlers: Be wary of the first pitch against Detroit

Over the years, when asked what is the best pitch, many pitching coaches have said "strike one." They mean it doesn't matter whether you throw a fastball, slider or changeup. As long you get ahead in the count, everything flows from there. Pitching ahead and getting strike one is big. It will be big for Orioles pitchers in this series against Detroit. But O's hurlers need to keep this fact in mind - Tigers batters thrive on hitting the first pitch. Of the top 20 hitters in batting average when putting the first pitch in play in the American League in 2014, five are Tigers. In fact they hold down five of the first 17 spots: * Miguel Cabrera bats .441 on the first pitch to rank third in the AL. * Torii Hunter bats .420 on the first pitch to rank seventh. * J.D. Martinez bats .415 to rank eighth. * Nick Castellanos bats .400 to rank 11th. * Alex Avila bats .382 to rank 17th. The point is clear here - Tigers hitters will be aggressive in pursuing the first pitch. A get-me-over fastball could wind up in the gap, or worse, the seats. Detroit is a good offensive team, ranking first in the AL in batting average, OBP and slugging, and second in runs scored. I'm sure many pitchers have worked hard to get ahead in the count this year only to get in trouble on the first pitch. So while you still want to work hard to get strike one, it needs to be a quality pitch. That can lead to pitches out of the zone, getting behind in the count and trouble another way. It is what good hitters and good lineups can do. First-pitch results will be interesting to track in this series for O's pitchers against Tigers hitters. The Verlander decision: Detroit manager Brad Ausmus is going with Justin Verlander as his Game 2 starter and David Price in Game 3 after Max Scherzer goes in the series opener tomorrow. This is an interesting call since Verlander went 15-12 with an ERA of 4.54 this season. While he did pitch to an ERA of 1.17 his last two starts, his ERA was 6.00 in the six starts before that. In two starts against the Orioles this year, he allowed seven runs on 11 hits in 14 innings. Verlander will be pitching on eight days rest since his last start, which was Sept. 24. This year, with six days or more rest, he is 2-0 with a 4.26 ERA in four starts. In 24 career starts on longer rest, he is 9-5 with a 3.32 ERA. Verlander has posted a WHIP of 1.40 and an opposing batting average of .275 while allowing 9.7 hits per nine innings this season. Well off his previous, more dominant numbers. He has strange reverse splits. Left-handed batters hit .239 with an OPS of .686 against him. Right-handed batters are hitting .321 with an OPS of .849. The rookie manager had an interesting call to make for Game 2 and he's going with the 2011 Cy Young Award winner Verlander over the 2012 winner in Price.