Greinke, a right-hander, led the major leagues with a 2.16 earned run average, a figure that seemed to impress voters more than the higher win totals for other AL starters. Greinke was 16-8 on the year, three fewer victories than the league leaders.
He is the third Kansas City player to win the Cy Young Award, joining two-time winner Bret Saberhagen (1985, 1989) and 1994 winner David Cone. Cone is the only other AL pitcher to win the award with as few as 16 wins but his season was shortened by a strike.
Greinke opened the season 6-0 with a 0.40 ERA and had a 6-1 record and 1.75 ERA in his final 11 starts.
He was listed first on 25 ballots and was second on the other three to total 134 points. Seattle's Felix Hernandez was second with 80 points and Detroit's Justin Verlander third.
The Cy Young Award is determined by a vote of members of the Baseball Writers Association of America representing each AL city. The National League Cy Young Award winner is to be announced Thursday.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
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