In the closest race since 1969, Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price won the AL Cy Young Award on Wednesday, edging out Detroit Tigers starter Justin Verlander, the 2011 winner, by one first-place vote and four points total.
While no Rangers pitcher was expected to be in the running for the top spot, two starters got some love from voters as Matt Harrison finished eighth in the balloting while rookie Yu Darvish, who finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting earlier this week, took ninth place.
Harrison was the model of steadiness and consistency for the Rangers in 2012, as he compiled an 18-11 record with a 3.29 ERA. Darvish had his expected rookie struggles but was dynamite down the stretch and finished with a 16-9 record with a 3.90 ERA and 221 strikeouts.
ESPNDallas' Richard Durrett said something interesting, the fact that none of Harrison's or Darvish's votes came from local voters, but instead it was writers from Boston, Cleveland and Minnesota that put the Texas duo on their ballots.
