Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes, shown Aug. 23, 2020, had a league-low 2.43 ERA this past season. File Photo by Archie Carpenter/UPI |
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Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Milwaukee Brewers ace Corbin Burnes took home the National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday, while Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Robbie Ray captured the Cy Young Award in the American League.
Burnes narrowly beat out Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler for the award, garnering 151 points to Wheeler's 141. Both pitchers received 12 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, but Burnes earned 14 second-place nominations to Wheeler's nine.
Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Max Scherzer, who finished third in voting, received the other six first-place votes.
Burnes became the first Brewers pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in the NL. The other Cy Young winners for the Brewers -- Rollie Fingers in 1981 and Pete Vuckovich in 1982 -- achieved the feat when the team was a member of the AL. The Brewers moved to the NL in 1998.
The 27-year-old Burnes ended the 2021 season with a MLB-low 2.43 ERA. He recorded a 0.94 WHIP and 234 strikeouts in 167 innings across 28 starts.
Burnes set a Major League record by starting the season with 58 strikeouts and no walks. In August, he tied the MLB record for consecutive strikeouts (10) during a game against the Chicago Cubs.
Meanwhile, Ray bested New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and Lance Lynn of the Chicago White Sox to claim the AL Cy Young Award.
Ray received 29 of 30 first-place votes in balloting by the BBWAA, with Cole getting the lone remaining vote to finish second. Lynn ended with 48 points to finish third.
The 30-year-old Ray became the first Blue Jays player to win the award since Roy Halladay in 2003. Pat Hentgen (1996) and Roger Clemens (1997-98) also captured the award for Toronto.
Ray posted a 13-7 record and 2.84 ERA over 193 1/3 innings for the Blue Jays. He led all AL pitchers with a 6.7 WAR.
