“I made a conscious effort to work on throwing away from righties and using my curveball more, using my changeup more and actually pitching,” Lee said. “I was going to miss spots here and there, but for the most part I felt like I had command from the first start to the last start and I made guys earn their way on.”

The 30-year-old Lee led the AL in ERA and ranked second in innings (223 1-3) and complete games (four). Halladay, the 2003 winner, topped those two categories with 246 innings and nine complete games. The right-hander also was 20-11 with a 2.78 ERA, second in the league. He piled up 206 strikeouts to Lee’s 170.

Still, Lee was a heavy favorite to win Thursday. The only question seemed to be whether the vote would be unanimous.

“Obviously, I used ’07 as motivation in the offseason to go and do everything I could to make sure that didn’t happen again,” he said. “I also think that going through what I did last year did help in making me a mentally tougher baseball player. Looking back on it, it wasn’t any fun. But it definitely makes for a better story.”

Lee became the first Cleveland pitcher to win 20 games since Perry in 1974, and his surprising comeback was crucial for a team that was hurt by injuries to starters Fausto Carmona and Jake Westbrook.

“My job is to come back in ’09 and do it again. There’s no reason to think I can’t,” Lee said. “I honestly feel like I’m going to come back and pick up right where I left off.”

Lee received a $250,000 bonus for winning, and the price of Cleveland’s 2010 club option increased from $8 million to $9 million. Halladay got $200,000 for finishing second.

Rodriguez, who set a major league mark with 62 saves this season, was listed second on seven ballots and third on 11.

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