2022 AL Cy Young odds: Justin Verlander may have clinched award over Dylan Cease on Tuesday

While there are still about six weeks left in the 2022 MLB regular season, Tuesday night might have been when Houston's Justin Verlander clinched the American League Cy Young Award over his closest pursuer, the Chicago White Sox's Dylan Cease. Verlander is now -300 at Caesars Sportsbook to win the award for a third time, and Cease +350.

You may remember that Verlander and Cease faced off Aug. 16 in Chicago. At that point, Verlander was -110 and Cease +150 to win. Neither got the decision in the White Sox's 4-3 win as Verlander allowed three earned runs with four strikeouts over seven innings, and Cease allowed three earned with four Ks over five innings. That ended Cease's MLB-record streak of 14 consecutive starts allowing one earned run or fewer.

Entering Tuesday's action, Verlander was -200 and Cease +260. The future Hall-of-Famer Verlander was brilliant against Minnesota with six no-hit innings, putting him nine outs away from the fourth no-hitter of his career, along no walks and 10 strikeouts. It was his MLB-leading 16th win and lowered his league-best ERA to 1.87. Verlander was just the fourth pitcher this season to throw six innings with at least 10 strikeouts while allowing zero hits.

There was never any thought that the 39-year-old, who missed all of last season due to Tommy John surgery, would actually finish the game. The Astros have been using a six-man rotation to save some innings on their starters, but manager Dusty Baker said the team will return to a five-man rotation next time through so Verlander was limited to around 90 pitches. It was his 13th career start beginning with six no-hit innings, third all-time behind Nolan Ryan (31) and Randy Johnson (14).

"He's older and wiser and realizes what's at stake, and he realizes that we've still got 38 [regular-season] games to go and hopefully, a whole lot more," Baker said. "He's looking at the big picture versus just today or being selfish-minded, which he's not. He's thinking about the team and himself."

Meanwhile, Cease struggled a bit in Baltimore, allowing four earned runs and three walks over 5.1 innings. He hadn't allowed at least four earned since May 24 vs. Boston, and Cease started that record 14-start streak immediately thereafter. 

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