New York, NY (Sportsbooks) -
Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Brandon Webb has been named the National League Cy Young Award winner by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Webb placed first on 15 of 32 ballots cast by two writers from each NL city and second on seven others. He also received seven third-place votes for a total of 103 points, based on the 5-3-1 tabulation system.
San Diego closer Trevor Hoffman finished second with 77 points. Major League Baseball's all-time saves leader placed first on 12 ballots, second on three and third on eight.
Hoffman, who also finished second in Cy Young voting in 1998 to Tom Glavine, was trying to become just the sixth reliever to be honored in the 39 seasons since the award has been given in each league.
Webb was one of six pitchers tied for the league lead in wins and was 16-8 with a 3.10 ERA. He was the early-season favorite, as he was unbeaten through his first 13 starts, while pitching to a 2.14 ERA. He was also solid down the stretch and gave up just five earned runs over the course of four consecutive starts from Sept. 9-26.
However, the 27-year-old sinkerballer struggled in his final start of the season on October 1 - the same day Cy Young ballots were due - and allowed seven runs in four innings to cost him the ERA title.
Webb's three shutouts matched that of the St. Louis Cardinals' Chris Carpenter, who won this award last season. He received two first-place votes this year and finished third with 63 points.
Carpenter was trying to become just the third back-to-back winner of the award after going 15-8 this season with a 3.09 ERA. However, there has never been a starter to win the award with less than 16 victories in any year not shortened by labor issues.
"I was a little surprised that Carpenter didn't get as many first-place votes," Webb said. "It's always surprising whenever we get the votes in and see where it all comes out."
Webb's victory total was the lowest by any pitcher that played a full season in the NL. Chicago's Rick Sutcliffe won the Cy Young in 1984 with a 16-1 mark, but he had also won four games with the Cleveland Indians that season before being traded. Fernando Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Dodgers won the award with just 13 wins, but that came in the strike-shortened 1981 campaign. Greg Maddux also won 16 games in an abbreviated 1994 campaign.
Webb becomes the second Arizona hurler to nab the Cy Young, joining Randy Johnson who won the award four years in a row from 1999-2002.
Houston's Roy Oswalt (31 points) grabbed the other three first place votes to finish fourth, while Carlos Zambrano (6 points) of the Cubs, Billy Wagner (4 points) of the Mets, Atlanta's John Smoltz (3 points) and the Dodgers' Takashi Saito (1 point) rounded out the voting.
No pitcher was on every ballot.
The American League Cy Young will be announced on Thursday with Minnesota's Johan Santana being the clear-cut favorite. The Managers of the Year will be announced on Wednesday.
