It looks as though Tigers ace Justin Verlander will win the AL pitching triple crown this season.
The Angles announced Tuesday night that Jered Weaver, the only pitcher that could spoil Verlander’s bid for the title was scratched from his final start of the season after the Angels were eliminated from postseason contention Monday.
“Obviously, there’s a little something out there but I’ve never been about chasing individual things,” Weaver told the Orange County Register. “If I was sitting on 19 (wins), 20 would have been cool. … The guy on the other end has had an outstanding year. He had a lot of support over there. He’s done great. To lose to a guy like that is not too bad.”
The race for the best ERA in the American League was very close. Verlander leads Weaver 2.40 to 2.41 meaning that if Weaver had recorded two more outs without allowing an earned run, he would have gotten the lowest ERA in the American League.
The pitching triple crown (which is very much in the shadow of the batting triple crown) consist of wins, ERA and strikeouts. This season Verlander has accumulated 24 wins, 250 strikeouts and a 2.40 ERA.
Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers ended up winning the National League pitching triple crown (21, 248, 2.28) which makes this the first time since 1924 that both leagues produced pitching triple crown winners. The last time there was a pitching triple crown winner was back in 2007 when Jake Peavy did it with the San Diego Padres.
Re: Detroit Free Press
