Justin Verlander, Jacob deGrom win Cy Young Awards

NEW YORK - Justin Verlander has a second AL Cy Young Award - and a clear path paved toward Cooperstown.

Verlander beat out teammate Gerrit Cole in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America revealed Wednesday night. Verlander got 17 first-place votes to 13 for Cole, who became a free agent after the season.

Mets ace Jacob deGrom won the NL prize for the second straight year. He received 29 of 30 first-place ?votes, becoming the 11th pitcher to win Cy Youngs in consecutive years. He and Verlander are the 20th and 21st players to win the award multiple times.

The 36-year-old Verlander won his first Cy Young in 2011 with Detroit, when he was also named MVP. Since then, he’d been a runner-up three times.

“The adversity I went through puts a new perspective on everything,” he said. “I mean, still would’ve liked to have won a couple of them.”

He continued a marvelous second act to his career since a 2017 trade from Detroit to Houston. He led the majors with 21 victories and padded his Hall of Fame resume by getting his 3,000th strikeout in his final start of the regular season. He also reached ?300 punchouts in a season for the first time.

Verlander no-hit Toronto on Sept. 1, becoming the sixth pitcher with three no-hitters in a career. He joined a group that includes Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan, Sandy Koufax, Bob Feller and Cy Young, along with 1880s pitcher Larry Corcoran.

Forget about slowing down - Verlander’s goal this offseason is to add velocity to his top-end fastball. He’s thinking about using weighted balls and other new-age throwing techniques.

The case between Verlander and Cole was tight. Cole had more strikeouts (326) and a lower ERA (2.50), but Verlander threw 10? more innings and won more games. They are the first set of teammates to finish 1-2 in AL voting - it’s happened five times in the NL.

Tampa Bay Rays righty Charlie Morton finished third a year after leaving Houston in free agency.

DeGrom is in special company as a repeat NL winner, joining Sandy Koufax, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Tim Lincecum, Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer.

“It was a dream to play this game and a dream to win one Cy Young,” deGrom said. “To win back to back was a goal. It’s hard to explain. You set these goals, but it almost doesn’t feel real yet.”

The 31-year-old led the NL with 255 strikeouts and posted a 2.43 ERA.