Scherzer, Porcello earn Cys
Tiger edges out Verlander, National easily wins N.L. honor
Max Scherzer celebrated aboard a boat off the British Virgin Islands, doused by college pals on a floating party.
Rick Porcello enjoyed the moment at his parents’ home in New Jersey, surrounded by family, friends and a few bottles of wine.
As for Justin Verlander, well, fuming supermodel Kate Upton brought the heat for her fiance.
Rotation mates for five seasons in Detroit, the three right-handers topped the Cy Young Award talk Wednesday: Scherzer easily won the N.L. prize, Porcello edged out Verlander for the A.L. honor.
“That’s just the weird thing about these,” said Scherzer, who ruled the majors with 284 strikeouts and topped the N.L. with 20 wins for Washington. “It’s the voting.”
Porcello led baseball with 22 wins for Boston, and had a 3.15 ERA.
Porcello won despite getting just eight of the 30 first-place votes from members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America — this was the first time the A.L. Cy winner didn’t get the most firsts.
Verlander went 16-9 with a 2.40 ERA while leading the A.L. in strikeouts and other categories. He got 14 first- place votes, but didn’t draw as much support across the board — he was left off two ballots, too.
Overall, Porcello won 137-132 in the second-closest vote since 1970 (Verlander lost by four points to David Price in 2012).
Voters list their five picks in order. A first-place vote is worth seven points, four for second, three for third, two for fourth and one for fifth. Verlander needed to pick up five more points to match Porcello.
Upton fired off three tweets, one of them rather saucy, telling Porcello “you didn’t win.”
Asked whether he was bothered by the brouhaha, Porcello simply said, “No, I honestly don’t care.”
“I’m not the one who made the decision,” he said on a conference call.
Porcello got a $100,000 bonus for winning the Cy. Verlander, who won the 2011 award, would’ve gotten $500,000 for this win.
Porcello bounced back from going 9-15 in his first season with the Red Sox, finishing 22-4 for the A.L. East champs.
He shared this last win of 2016 with those who “never wavered” in their support, admitting, “It was hard not to start balling and crying.”
Cleveland’s Corey Kluber was third and got three first-place votes. Baltimore reliever Zach Britton, who went 47 for 47 on save chances with a 0.54 ERA, had five first-place and was fourth.
Scherzer breezed, drawing 25 first-place votes to beat out Chicago Cubs teammates Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks.
Scherzer became the sixth pitcher to earn the Cy Young in both leagues. After earning the A.L. honor in 2013 with the Tigers, Scherzer joined Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Gaylord Perry and Roy Halladay as winners in both leagues.
This award, Scherzer said, meant even more than the first one.
“It just verifies everything I try to achieve,” he said.
Scherzer posted a record-tying 20-strikeout performance for the N.L. East champion Nationals, a year after he threw two no-hitters in his first season with Washington.
Scherzer is the first pitcher from a Washington franchise to win a Cy Young.
Astros: Right-hander Charlie Morton, 33, agreed to a contract with Houston, giving the Astros one of the best groundball pitchers in the majors. Morton agreed to a two-year, $14 million deal that includes bonuses of $625,000 each for 12, 20, 25 and 30 starts each season. He made just four starts last season for the Phillies before a torn left hamstring which required surgery ended his year.
It was the fourth surgery Morton has had in recent years including Tommy John surgery in 2012. But he said Wednesday that he’s healthy now and has thrown six bullpen sessions since recovering from his hamstring injury, including three where he threw more than 50 pitches.
Vin Scully: Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Tuesday at the White House. Scully is one of 21 recipients of the Medal of Freedom, including NBA Hall of Famers Kareen Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan. votes