Sabathia gets the Cy Young victory

C.C. Sabathia beat Josh Beckett at last -- albeit a few weeks later than he hoped.

Sabathia won the American League Cy Young Award on Tuesday, topping Boston’s ace and two other contenders by a comfortable margin to become the first Cleveland Indians pitcher in 35 years to earn the honor.

Sabathia received 19 of 28 first-place votes and finished with 119 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Assn. of America. Beckett, who outpitched Sabathia twice in the playoffs, was second with eight first-place votes and 86 points.

“I did look at a few numbers,” the 6-foot-7, 290-pound Sabathia said on a conference call from his California home. “I definitely thought that Beckett -- it could have gone either way. I’m just happy and thankful that it went my way.”

The Red Sox right-hander trounced Sabathia two times in the AL championship series and went 4-0 with a 1.20 earned-run average in four postseason starts, striking out 35 and walking two. Sabathia was 1-2 with an 8.80 ERA and 13 walks in three playoff outings.

“The first two I can definitely say I was trying to do too much,” Sabathia said. “Just trying to make perfect pitches.”

The Angels’ John Lackey got the other first-place vote and came in third. Cleveland’s Fausto Carmona was fourth.

Sabathia went 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA and 209 strikeouts, pitching a major league-high 241 innings. Beckett (20-7) became the only big leaguer to win 20 games since 2005, compiling a 3.27 ERA in 200 2/3 innings. Lackey led the AL in ERA at 3.01, going 19-9 and tossing 224 innings. Carmona was 19-8 with a 3.06 ERA.

“I was excited. My family and everybody were around,” Sabathia said. “I was surprised. Beckett had a great year and an even better postseason.”

The only other Cleveland pitcher to win the award was Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry in 1972.

Mariano Rivera was offered a $45-million, three-year contract to stay with the New York Yankees. Now, the team is waiting to hear back from its star closer.

“He’d be by $4 million a year the highest-paid relief pitcher,” Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner said Tuesday. “To say that’s a strong offer would be an understatement.”

The Minnesota Twins hope Craig Monroe hits as well for them as he did against them.

The Twins acquired Monroe from the Chicago Cubs for a player to be named. The 30-year-old outfielder batted .219 with 12 homers and 59 RBIs last season for the Tigers and the Cubs, who obtained him Aug. 23 after Detroit designated him for assignment.

Before going to Chicago, Monroe tormented the Twins during his four-plus seasons with Detroit in the AL Central. He has hit .322 with 13 home runs in 283 career at-bats against Minnesota, including a .304 average in 35 games at the Metrodome.

John Allen, who ran the Cincinnati Reds after former owner Marge Schott was suspended in the 1990s, resigned as the team’s chief operating officer.

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AL Cy Young voting

First-, second- and third-place votes and total points are on a 5-3-1 basis.

*--* PLAYER 1ST 2ND 3RD TOT C.C. Sabathia, Cleveland 19 8 - 119 Josh Beckett, Boston 8 14 4 86 JOHN LACKEY, ANGELS 1 5 16 36 Fausto Carmona, Cleveland - 1 4 7 Erik Bedard, Baltimore - - 1 1 Roy Halladay, Toronto - - 1 1 Johan Santana, Minnesota - - 1 1 Justin Verlander, Detroit - - 1 1 *--*