Last year, Randy Johnson had a similar complaint pitching for the Arizona Diamondbacks. His ERA was 2.60, but he won just 16 games and absorbed 14 losses — all because the D-Backs scored runs as often as Terrell Owens confesses he’s overpaid and gets way too much credit for his modest achievements on the football field.

Clemens had a 2.98 ERA in 2004, pitched 31 fewer innings and struck out 112 fewer batters than Johnson, but Clemens took home the hardware because he also had 18 wins against just four defeats.

I agreed with the voters last year, and if I ever want to be accused of being consistent, the same rule has to apply this year. You win just 13 games, you don’t win the Cy Young; no starting pitcher, in fact, has ever won it for a full season with fewer than 16 wins.

So we’re back to Carpenter and Willis, who should finish one-two in the voting.

Although I think Carpenter was the man on the basis of start-to-finish consistency, I wouldn’t think it a horrible injustice if Willis were to win. Dontrelle did have one more win, 22 to 21 for Carpenter, and an ERA of 2.63, which was two-tenths of a run lower than Carpenter’s 2.83. Willis matched the Cardinal in complete games with seven, but had one more shutout. Innings pitched were nearly identical.

But the categories in which Willis beats Carpenter are offset by others, starting with strikeouts. If Willis were a finesse pitcher, I’d say that doesn’t matter, but he’s a young stud who throws hard, yet struck out just 170 on the year, fewer than the Rocket. Carpenter had 213.

Carpenter also had just five losses against 10 for Dontrelle. And Willis can’t argue that he didn’t get enough run support. The reason he shouldn’t win is because after an 11-2 start, he spent July building a 2-3 record and an ERA north of 7.00. Eight of his losses came in the second half of the season.

Carpenter, on the other hand, was steady from start to finish — although he struggled somewhat in September — and he anchored a staff for the National League’s winningest team. He’s a guy who spent six years in Toronto, never winning more than 12 games and putting up a winning record just twice. Last year, he started to find his way with the Cardinals, going 15-5. This year, he added six wins without adding any losses.

He, and not Roger Clemens, deserved to be the NL Cy Young winner on Thursday.

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