I don’t think this was a big surprise to anyone.
Clemens had probably the best stretch of eight or nine games ever pitched since the days of Gibson but he was plagued by incredibly bad run support by the Astros which explains his 13-8 record despite his 1.87 ERA. The other major contender Dontrell Willis did have one more win and did have a slightly lower ERA (2.63 to 2.83) but considerably lower winning percentage (.688 to .808) and less strikeouts (170 to 213).
But I could quote stats to you till I’m blue in face but you and I know that once we get to the “A” list, stats aren’t what it’s about when deciding awards like Cy Young and MVP. Carp won the Cy Young because he played for a contending team or more precisely, the team he was on was a contending team was in part, because he was pitching for them. Carpenter played an important part in the Cardinals playoff run. Something Willis, despite how well he pitched, can’t claim.