Jake Arrieta Gets One More Win

18 Nov, 2015

Jake Arrieta posted one final win, perhaps against his most formidable competition yet.

The Chicago Cubs righty aced out Dodgers stars Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw to earn the NL Cy Young Award by a comfortable margin Wednesday.

“There was some anxiety involved,” Arrieta said on a conference call.

Arrieta topped the majors with 22 victories, boosted by a record 0.75 ERA after the All-Star break. He acknowledged the super stats piled up by his Los Angeles rivals spurred him.

“Deep down inside, we think we can catch them, do a little bit better,” he said.

Voting by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America was conducted before the postseason.

In a tight race between three very worthy contenders, Arrieta received 17 of 30 first-place votes and 169 points. Greinke drew 10 first-place votes and 147 points. Kershaw got the other three firsts and 101 points.

Arrieta went 22-6, including 11-0 in his last 12 starts in pushing the Cubs into the playoffs for the first time since 2008. The 29-year-old had a 1.77 ERA, struck out 236 and pitched a no-hitter.

Arrieta was 6-5 with a 3.40 ERA after walking six in five innings during a loss to Cleveland in mid-June. In his final 20 regular-season starts, he went 16-1 and permitted only 14 earned runs.

During that span, he also hit two home runs while giving up just two. No starter has equaled what he did in the second half.

“I see the numbers on TV, people bring it up to me quite a bit,” he said. “It’s kind of amazing to think about it.”

Arrieta was the first Cubs pitcher to win the honor since Greg Maddux in 1992.

The Cubs won a major postseason award for the third straight day. Kris Bryant was the NL Rookie of the Year and Joe Maddon was the NL Manager of the Year.

“It looks like we’re going to have a pretty bright future,” Arrieta said.

AP

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