NEW YORK — Gerrit Cole was a unanimous winner of his first American League Cy Young Award on Wednesday, and two Mariners finished in the top ten of voting.
After coming close several times before, Cole finally finished on top following an outstanding season for the New York Yankees. The ace right-hander received all 30 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Minnesota Twins right-hander Sonny Gray was the runner-up with 20 second-place votes, and Kevin Gausman of the Toronto Blue Jays finished third.
Cole went 15-4 with an AL-low 2.63 ERA and 222 strikeouts in 209 innings, leading the league in innings, as well. He became the sixth Yankees pitcher to win a Cy Young and first since Roger Clemens in 2001.
The six-time All-Star twice came in second in Cy Young voting and finished in the top five three other times.
Mariners starter Luis Castillo came in 5th place with 23 points, including two second place votes. In the American League, Castillo had the fifth most wins (14), fifth best ERA (3.34), four most strikeouts (219), and the sixth best WHIP (1.10).
Castillo's teammate, George Kirby, finished 8th in the voting with 8 points. Kirby received a fourth place vote and 6 fifth place votes. In the American League, Kirby had the sixth most wins (13), sixth best ERA (3.35), third best WHIP (1.04), and the third most quality starts (20).
This is the first time since 2013 that two Mariners placed in the top 10 of voting. Hisashi Iwakuma (3rd) and Felix Hernandez (8th) accomplished the feat that season.