Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw will finish in top 3 of NL Cy Young Award voting

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers' two best pitchers were recognized by the Baseball Writers Association of America as two of the three best pitchers in the National League in 2015, both named as finalists for the 2015 National League Cy Young Award as announced on Tuesday afternoon.

Jake Arrieta of the Cubs is the other finalist, a word which is a bit of a misnomer because the voting is already completed. Being named a finalist simply means placing in the top three in voting.

Greinke and Kershaw are the first set of teammates to finish in the top three of Cy Young balloting since Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee in 2011. That Phillies duo finished second and third, respectively, to Kershaw, though Lee got zero first-place votes.

The last duo of teammates to finish in the top three of Cy Young voting and also each receive first-place votes were Chris Carpenter (nine first-place votes, second place) and Adam Wainwright (12 first-place votes, third place) of the Cardinals in 2009.

This marks the third time the Dodgers have had two of the top three finishers in Cy Young voting, and the first time since Mike Marshall and Andy Messersmith finished first and second in 1974. The other occurrence came in 1956, the first year of the award, with only one major league award, when Don Newcombe finished first and Sal Maglie finished second.

Kershaw has won the last two NL Cy Young Awards and three of the last four, finishing second in 2012. Greinke, who won the American League Cy Young Award in 2009 with Kansas City, finished eighth in NL balloting in 2013 and seventh in 2014, his first two years in Los Angeles.

Both Greinke and Kershaw will receive bonuses for finishing in the top three of Cy Young voting, with each getting $1 million should they win the award. Greinke gets a $500,000 bonus for finishing anywhere from second through fifth, while Kershaw gets $500,000 for finishing second or third.

Kershaw is the first pitcher ever to finish in the top three in Cy Young voting for five straight years.

There are 30 total ballots for the NL Cy Young Award, two for each city in the National League, with five places on each ballot. Seven points are awarded for a first-place vote, then four points for second place, three for third, two for fourth and one point for fifth place.

Cy Young Award winners will be announced on Wednesday, Nov. 18, in an hour-long show starting at 3 p.m. PT on MLB Network.