MIAMI — Miami Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara is the Cy Young Award winner in the National League.
Alcantara and Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander in the American League were both unanimous selections Wednesday.
It's the second time the winners in both leagues were unanimous since the award began in 1956.
Alcantara had a 2.28 ERA while pitching a major league-best 228 2/3 innings and six compete games. It's the first Cy Young Award for the 27-year-old from the Dominican Republic, who becomes the first Marlins player to receive the honor.
"It makes me feel so special because I came here to the Marlins with my positive mentality — just tried to win," he said. "Tried to compete, tried to get better. This year I put everything in the same spot, working hard. I've had great success. And now to win the National League Cy Young, I feel so happy and blessed."
Alcantara received all 30 first-place votes, the 15th time the NL has had a unanimous winner.
His six complete games were the most in the majors since Chris Sale had six in 2016. The two-time All-Star went 14-9 and threw seven or more innings in 13 straight starts from May 11-July 15, which was the longest such streak since 2014.
Alcantara's innings pitched and wins were both career highs and his ERA was his best in six seasons and ranked second in the NL.
