Cy Young awards handed out

NEW YORK (CP) — After a season marred by narrow defeats, Jacob deGrom became a runaway winner.

The New York Mets ace easily won the National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday night, a reward for a historically fruitless season in Flushing. The right-hander won just 10 games, the fewest ever by a Cy Young-winning starter.

DeGrom easily beat out Washington’s Max Scherzer, who was seeking a third straight Cy Young and fourth overall. DeGrom got 29 firstplace votes and 207 points from members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Scherzer had the other firstplace vote.

Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays narrowly beat out past winners Justin Verlander and Corey Kluber for his first AL Cy Young after leading the majors with 21 victories.

In his first season after chopping off his distinctive long hair, deGrom cut down hitters from start to finish despite little help from teammates.

He had a 1.70 ERA, the lowest in the NL since Zack Greinke’s 1.66 mark in 2015. Yet the 30-year-old right-hander went 10-9, eclipsing the low bar among starters set by Seattle’s Felix Hernandez when he took the award with 13 victories in 2010.

DeGrom allowed three runs or fewer in 29 consecutive starts to close the season, breaking Leslie “King” Cole’s 108-yearold record of 26 such outings. Yet the Mets were 11-18 in those games and 14-18 overall with deGrom on the mound.