By Canadian Press

Chris Sale wins NL Cy Young Award after being league’s 1st pitching triple crown winner since 2011

Nov 20, 2024 | 4:44 PM

Atlanta Braves left-hander Chris Sale won the National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday night after being the league’s first pitching triple crown winner since 2011.

In his first season with the Braves, Sale led the NL with 18 wins and 225 strikeouts, while his 2.38 ERA was the best among all major league qualifiers. The 35-year-old Sale went 18-3 and made his eighth All-Star team. He also won his first Gold Glove this year.

Sale received 26 of 30 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America that was completed before the playoffs. Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler finished second, and hard-throwing Pittsburgh righty Paul Skenes was third only two days after being selected the NL Rookie of the Year.

Detroit’s Tarik Skubal, who turned 28 on Wednesday, was a finalist for the American League Cy Young Award after the lefty took the pitching triple crown in that league.

Skubal went 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA and a major league-best 228 strikeouts. Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase (47 saves) and Kansas City starter Seth Lugo (16-9, 3.00) were the other finalists for the AL award to be announced later Wednesday night.

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After battling injuries since helping Boston win the 2018 World Series, Sale didn’t have any major issues in his Braves debut until he was scratched because of back issues from their final regular-season game, which they had to win to make the playoffs. He was then left off the roster for their Wild Card Series loss to San Diego.

Atlanta acquired Sale in a trade last December after he made only 31 starts for the Red Sox from 2021-23. He missed the 2020 season and most of 2021 after Tommy John surgery. He made only two starts in 2022 after he fractured a rib and then broke his left pinkie. He broke his right wrist riding a bicycle in August 2023, ending his final season with Boston.

Sale was named the NL Comeback Player of the Year last week at Major League Baseball’s All-MLB Awards Show.

This was the third time Sale finished among the top three in Cy Young Award voting. He was the AL runner-up in 2017 after his first season with Boston behind Corey Kluber, who was also the Cy Young Award winner in 2014 when Sale finished third while with the Chicago White Sox.

Clayton Kershaw had been the NL’s last pitching triple crown winner in 2011, which was also the last time both leagues had a pitcher finish the same season with the most wins and strikeouts, and best qualifying ERA. Kershaw won the first of his three Cy Young Awards with the Los Angeles Dodgers that year, and 24-game winner Justin Verlander took the AL prize for Detroit.

Sale won the eighth Cy Young Award for the Braves organization. Most of those came in the 1990s, when Greg Maddux won three in a row with Atlanta from 1993-95 — after being the 1992 winner with the Chicago Cubs. Tom Glavine won twice (1991 and 1998), and John Smoltz was the 1996 winner. Warren Spahn was the first in 1957.

The 22-year-old Skenes is just the fifth rookie to finish among the top three in Cy Young Award voting. Only Fernando Valenzuela won both awards in the same year, in 1981 with the Dodgers in the National League.

Clase, with a 0.61 ERA in 74 1/3 innings over 74 games, is the first reliever to finish in the top three since San Diego closer Trevor Hoffman finished second for the NL Cy Young Award in 2006.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press