Max Scherzer, Corey Kluber Easily Snag 2017 Cy Young Awards
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals coasted to his third Cy Young Award, winning Wednesday for the second straight year in the National League.
Scherzer breezed past Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, drawing 27 of the 30 first-place votes in balloting by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
"Yes!" Scherzer shouted, thrusting his arms up when the honor was announced on MLB Network.
Scherzer earned the NL honor last year with Washington and the 2013 American League prize with Detroit. He became the 10th pitcher with at least three Cy Youngs.
Scherzer was 16-6 with a career-best 2.51 ERA. The 33-year-old righty struck out a league-leading 268 for the NL East champion Nationals.
Kershaw has already won three NL Cy Youngs, and was the last pitcher to win back-to-back. He was 18-4 with a league-best 2.31 ERA and 202 strikeouts.
Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals finished third.
Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians easily won his second AL Cy Young Award earlier in the day. He got 28 of the 30 first-place votes, with Boston's Chris Sale second with the remaining two of the first-place votes, and Luis Severino of the New York Yankees third with 20 third-place votes, six fourth-place votes, and one fifth-place vote.
Kluber led the majors with a 2.25 ERA and his 18 wins tied for the most in baseball. He added to the Cy Young he won with the Indians in 2014.
Kluber and Scherzer both had rough outings in the playoffs. Voting for the awards was completed before the postseason began.
The final BBWAA honors will come Thursday when the MVP awards are announced in the AL and NL.
Nicknamed "Klubot" for his robotic manner on the mound, Kluber finished 18-4 and struck out 265.
Kluber was especially dominant down the stretch, closing out the season by going 11-1 to help Cleveland win the AL Central.
Sale topped the majors with 308 strikeouts — he was the first AL pitcher to fan 300 since Pedro Martinez in 1999. Sale went 17-8 with a 2.90 ERA.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)