NEW YORK — Rick Porcello of the Boston Red Sox won the AL Cy Young Award by a narrow margin in results announced Wednesday night.

Porcello, who led the majors with 22 wins, beat out Justin Verlander of Detroit and Corey Kluber of Cleveland.

Porcello got just eight first-place votes from members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America while Verlander drew 14. But Porcello drew more support across the board and was listed by all 30 voters – Verlander was left off two ballots. This was the first time the AL Cy Young winner didn’t get the most firsts.

Porcello enjoyed the moment at his parents’ home in New Jersey, surrounded by family, friends and a few bottles of wine.

Porcello became only the fourth pitcher to claim a Cy Young Award with the Red Sox, joining Jim Lonborg (1967), Roger Clemens (1986, 1987 and 1990) and Pedro Martinez (1999, 2000).

“It’s pretty incredible to be mentioned with those three other Red Sox players, and then Pedro and Roger,” Porcello said. “It definitely doesn’t feel right, right now, just because I grew up watching those guys. They were my idols growing up, and I had the utmost admiration for what they’ve done in the game. To be in that category is – I can’t express my gratitude. It’s pretty humbling. I never thought I’d be in that position to mention my name with those guys.”

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As for Verlander, well, a fuming supermodel Kate Upton brought the heat for her fiance.

Verlander went 16-9 with a 2.40 ERA while leading the AL in strikeouts and other categories. He got 14 first-place votes but didn’t draw as much support across the board.

Overall, Porcello won 137-132 in the second-closest vote since 1970 (Verlander lost by four points to David Price in 2012).

Voters list their five picks in order. A first-place vote is worth seven points, four for second, three for third, two for fourth and one for fifth.

Upton fired off three tweets, one of them rather saucy, telling Porcello “you didn’t win.”

Asked whether he was bothered by the brouhaha, Porcello simply said, “No, I honestly don’t care.

“All I know is I’ve got a lot of people around me right now that I love very much and have been instrumental in my success getting to this point. And on top of that, we’ve got some really good bottles of wine that still need to be drank. There’s not really a concern in my mind.”

Porcello got a $100,000 bonus for winning the Cy Young. Verlander, who won the 2011 award, would have gotten $500,000 for this win.

Porcello bounced back after going 9-15 in his first season with the Red Sox, finishing with a 22-4 record for the AL East champions.


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