NEW YORK — Cliff Lee turned a terrible season into something positive: incentive.

Lee won the American League Cy Young Award in a runaway Thursday, capping a dominant comeback that made him the second consecutive Cleveland Indians lefty to earn the coveted prize.

Demoted to the minors last year, Lee went a major league-best 22-3 this season with a 2.54 ERA. He received 24 of 28 first-place votes and 132 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

"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 on a conference call from his Arkansas home.

"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."

Toronto ace Roy Halladay was a distant runner-up with four first-place votes and 71 points. Record-setting closer Francisco Rodriguez of the Los Angeles Angels finished third with 32 points.

Lee became the third Cleveland pitcher to win a Cy Young, following Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry in 1972 and CC Sabathia last year.

"We are pretty close friends, and there's a lot of things I picked up from him (Sabathia) and I'd like to think there's a few things he picked up from me," Lee said.