DeGrom, Snell get nod for Cy Young honors

Snell got 17 first-place votes and 169 points to 13 first-place votes and 154 points for Verlander. Kluber had 71 points, followed by Boston's Chris Sale and Houston's Gerrit Cole.

Snell led the AL with a 1.89 ERA. The 25-year-old pitched just 180 2/3 innings, 33 1/3 fewer than Verlander, but his dominance was enough to sway the electorate.

The lefty nicknamed Snellzilla wreaked havoc against the AL's top lineups. He was 3-0 with a 1.08 ERA in four starts against the World Series champion Red Sox, and 2-0 in two starts each against the Astros and Indians.

The Yankees roughed Snell up twice, but he got through five scoreless innings in a victory over New York on Aug 16. That came during a late-season run of nine consecutive wins for Snell, including one against every team in the AL East.

Snell is the first pitcher under age 25 to win 21 games since Barry Zito in 2002. He was highly regarded as a minor leaguer for his electric arsenal, but subpar control led to struggles during his first two major-league seasons. He was even demoted to Triple-A for a month in 2017.

It all came together this year. Snell was a stalwart for a most unusual pitching staff, taking the ball every fifth day while manager Kevin Cash successfully experimented with reliever "openers" to start games in between.

Snell led the Rays with 31 starts, and no other traditional starter had more than 17. After longtime franchise ace Chris Archer was traded to the Pirates on July 31, Snell went 9-0 with a 1.17 ERA.

"I felt with the opener, I had a bigger role on the team," Snell said.

Snell is the second Rays pitcher to win the award, following David Price in 2012.

Scherzer went 18-7 with a 2.53 ERA and led the majors with 220 2/3 innings and 300 strikeouts. He was attempting to become the first player since Randy Johnson to win three consecutive Cy Youngs. He got 29 second-place votes and 123 points. Aaron Nola of the Philadelphia Phillies was third with 86 points, followed by Colorado's Kyle Freeland and Arizona's Patrick Corbin.

Verlander led the AL with 290 strikeouts while going 16-9 with a 2.52 ERA for AL West champion Houston. This is his third second-place finish since winning the Cy Young and MVP in 2011 with Detroit.

Kluber was attempting to win his second straight Cy Young and third overall. He went 20-7 with a 2.89 ERA for AL Central champion Cleveland and led the AL with 215 innings.

Associated Press