"As if there weren't enough storylines heading into the Milwaukee Brewers' regular-season finale, the neck-and-neck race between Ryan Braun and the New York Mets' Jose Reyes for the National League batting title took a strange twist earlier Wednesday.

Reyes entered his final game leading Braun, .336 to .335, and collected a hit in his first at-bat in the afternoon against the visiting Cincinnati Reds.

That's where the story took a right-hand turn into controversy.

Reyes' hit came on a bunt he dropped down the third-base line, which upped his average to .337. The shortstop then left the game in what turned out to be a pre-arranged move between Reyes and Mets manager Terry Collins, prompting boos from some Mets fans.

"We talked this morning," Collins said. "Jose, when he came in, I asked him how he wanted to go about this. I wanted to take him out at the appropriate time. He said if he got a hit his first time up, he'd like to come out."