Zito edges Martinez for AL Cy Young Award

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oakland's Barry Zito edged Boston's Pedro Martinez to win his first American League Cy Young Award on Thursday. <br><br>Zito, who went 23-5 with a 2.75 ERA to help the Athletics

Thursday, November 7th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oakland's Barry Zito edged Boston's Pedro Martinez to win his first American League Cy Young Award on Thursday.

Zito, who went 23-5 with a 2.75 ERA to help the Athletics won the AL West, received 17 first-place votes, nine seconds and two thirds for 114 points from a panel of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Martinez, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, got 11 firsts, 12 seconds and five thirds for 96 points after going 20-4 with a 2.26 ERA. Boston teammate Derek Lowe, 21-8 with a 2.58 ERA, was third with 41 points, and Anaheim's Jarrod Washburn (18-6, 3.15) got one point.

Zito, a 24-year-old left-hander, led the AL in wins, was third in ERA behind Martinez and Lowe, and tied the Yankees' Mike Mussina for third in strikeouts at 182 behind Martinez (239) and New York's Roger Clemens (192).

Opposing batters had a .185 average with runners in scoring position against Zito, the lowest in the AL.

Zito's 47-17 career record gives him a .734 winning percentage, the best since 1900 among pitchers with 50 or more decisions. He became the fifth Oakland pitcher to win the award, following Vida Blue (1971), Catfish Hunter (1974), Bob Welch (1990) and Dennis Eckersley (1992).

Martinez, who won the NL award with Montreal in 1997 and the AL award in 1999 and 2000, gets a $500,000 bonus for finishing second. Lowe, who pitched a no-hitter against Tampa Bay on April 27, gets $50,000 for finishing third.

On Tuesday, Arizona's Randy Johnson won his fourth straight NL Cy Young Award.