Verlander, Alcantara, unanimous Cy Young Award winners

HOUSTON — It didn’t take Justin Verlander long to realize he could have a special year after missing almost two full seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Heading into his fifth start, Verlander knew he was back.

“In that moment, I felt normal and like myself, pain-free, able to recover like I always have,” he said. “I think my mindset just completely shifted to like, ‘OK, I am the pitcher I’ve always been.’”

On Wednesday, the Houston ace capped his stellar season by winning the American League Cy Young Award, joining Miami’s Sandy Alcantara in the National League as unanimous selections.

It’s the second time the winners in both leagues were unanimous since the award began in 1956 and the first since Detroit’s Denny McLain in the AL and St. Louis’ Bob Gibson in the NL swept the voting in 1968.

The 39-year-old Verlander, who also won the award in 2019 after winning both MVP and the Cy Young in 2011, becomes the 11th player to win it three times. He also won unanimously in 2011.

He said this one has a different meaning.

“It shows that I’m at a different point in my life,” Verlander said. “I will always remember this Cy Young as looking back at the growth of me as a father and as a person, and just also the the rehab and all the hard work that went into the rehab and how I was just so committed to it was going to go well and I was going to come back and be me.”

Verlander led the majors with a 1.75 ERA, the lowest of his 17-year career. He becomes the fourth AL pitcher with two unanimous Cy Young Awards, joining Roger Clemens (1986, 1998), Pedro Martinez (1999, 2000) and Johan Santana (2004, 2006).

Alcantara had a 2.28 ERA while pitching a major league-best 228 innings and six compete games. It’s the first Cy Young Award for the 27-year-old from the Dominican Republic, who becomes the first Marlins player to receive the honor.

Alcantara received all 30 first-place votes, the 15th time the NL has had a unanimous winner.