August 23, 2006, 9:48 am

Pitcher Justin Verlander wowed Erie SeaWolves fans in his short stint with the team in the summer of 2005.

Now he's wowed his way onto the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Verlander, the emerging star for the Detroit Tigers, has this week's SI cover all to himself. He's included in a story capsulized on the sportsillustrated.cnn.com Web site this way: "Welcome to September, Kids: The Tigers' Justin Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman bring the scary heat that wins in October, but whether they -- and several other young phenoms -- survive the strain of a stretch drive remains to be seen."

The Tigers are a major league-best 81-45 and lead the AL Central by 7.5 games after Tuesday's games.

Verlander, 23, is a team-best 15-6 with a 3.05 earned-run average in 24 starts. He's allowed 143 hits and struck out 100 batters in 153.1 innings, third best on the team.

Verlander's next scheduled start is Saturday against the Cleveland Indians. Game time at Jacobs Field is 7:05 p.m.

Verlander, 6 feet 5 inches and 200 pounds, is 2-0 against the Indians this season, allowing just two runs on 12 hits in 13.2 innings. He made his major league debut against the Indians on July 4, 2005, allowing four runs in 5.2 innings in a spot start after being called up from Erie.