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The Toronto Blue Jays acquired Shane Bieber in a trade Thursday with the Cleveland Guardians, betting that the former Cy Young Award winner will be able to quickly bounce back from injury rehabilitation.

The first-place Blue Jays sent right-handed pitching prospect Khal Stephen, a second-round draft pick from Mississippi State, to the Guardians in the trade, which was announced Thursday.

Bieber won the American League Cy Young in the COVID-shortened 2020 season and was consistently one of the league’s best starting pitchers before suffering a season-ending elbow injury after two starts in 2024. He re-signed with the Guardians in the offseason for a $10 million salary in 2025 and a $16 million player option in 2026.

Bieber, 30, has not pitched in the majors since undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2024 but has made three minor league rehab starts in recent weeks. The right-hander worked four innings in his most recent outing Tuesday with Double-A Akron, striking out seven on 57 pitches, and was expected to rejoin Cleveland’s rotation at some point in August.

The Blue Jays now have a very deep rotation, with Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Eric Lauer, Jose Berrios and future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer, in a year in which they have surged to the top of the American League East standings. If Bieber comes back to be anything close to what he was with the Guardians, he could be a high-end option for Game 1, 2 or 3 of a playoff series.

There is no financial adjustment to Thursday’s trade, sources said, with Toronto taking on the remainder of what is owed to Bieber for the rest of his deal.

Bieber is 62-32 with a 3.22 ERA over parts of seven seasons with the Guardians. The two-time All-Star is the second pitching acquisition this week for the Blue Jays, who also brought in hard-throwing reliever Seranthony Dominguez in a trade Tuesday with the Baltimore Orioles.

The Blue Jays, who entered Thursday with a four-game lead over the New York Yankees atop the AL East, have a team ERA of 4.27, the ninth worst in the majors.

Stephen has had a promising season, compiling a 2.36 ERA in 18 appearances that include 17 starts.

Rival executives told ESPN that, in recent days, the Guardians — who lost star closer Emmanuel Clase to an MLB investigation earlier this week — have signaled they are ready to trade away players. Outfielder Steven Kwan also may be on the move before MLB’s trade deadline at 6 p.m. ET Thursday.

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Rodriguez makes history with another 20-20 year

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Rodriguez makes history with another 20-20 year

SEATTLE — Julio Rodriguez homered to become the first player in major league history with 20 or more home runs and 20 or more stolen bases in each of his first four seasons, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 on Sunday.

Rodriguez hit a two-run shot in the third inning — his 100th career homer — and the slugging and speedy center fielder also added his 21st stolen base of the season after singling in the fifth inning.

“That’s a very big accomplishment,” Rodríguez told reporters, according to MLB.com. “I know my family’s very happy, and I’m sure they’re thinking of all the things I had to do to be able to get here. To be able to do it with this team and this organization is awesome. I’m just excited to see where things are going to go from here.”

Jorge Polanco added a solo shot in the second, and shortstop J.P. Crawford smacked a two-run blast in the fourth against Rangers starter Jacob deGrom (10-4), who became the fastest pitcher in major league history to reach 1,800 career strikeouts by games and innings Sunday.

The Rangers kept things close by pushing across three runs against Mariners starter Logan Evans (5-4), but tallied only one run against the Mariners bullpen before closer Andrés Muñoz locked down his 25th save of the season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Marlins def. Yankees, earn 1st-ever sweep of N.Y.

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Marlins def. Yankees, earn 1st-ever sweep of N.Y.

MIAMI — Kyle Stowers hit a three-run homer and the Miami Marlins defeated the New York Yankees 7-3 on Sunday, completing their first-ever sweep of the Yankees in a series of three or more games.

The Marlins (55-55) reached .500 for the first time since April 15, when the team was 8-8. Since June 13, the Marlins are 30-14; that’s tied with the 2003 team for the most wins in a 44-game span in franchise history, according to ESPN Research.

The 2003 Marlins went on to beat the Yankees in the World Series in six games.

Marlins starter Edward Cabrera (5-5) pitched six innings of two-hit ball with seven strikeouts and one walk. His only blemish came against the first batter he faced. Trent Grisham drove Cabrera’s 98.1 mph four-seam fastball to right-center.

Miami rookie Jakob Marsee, who made his major league debut on Friday, was 2-for-4 and finished a single short of the cycle.

Stowers made it 6-1 when he connected on an 0-2 fastball from Brent Headrick, who entered in the fourth with two on after starter Luis Gil (0-1) was lifted 3⅓ innings into his season debut.

Gil, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, struck out three and surrendered five runs and five hits while issuing four walks in his return from a high-grade lat strain. He threw 77 pitches.

Gil’s shaky debut comes at a rough point in the season for the Yankees, whose inconsistency has prompted a rash of criticism, the latest coming from former Yankees stars Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez on Fox’s pregame show Saturday night.

“They make way too many mistakes,” Jeter said. “Way too many mistakes, and you can’t get away with making that number of mistakes against great teams.”

Added Rodriguez: “Where’s the accountability?”

Boone addressed those criticisms before Sunday’s game, saying it comes with the territory of being the Yankees, but he added after the loss that it’s “gut-check” time for his club.

New York’s weekend series at Miami included the Yankees blowing a six-run lead in a wild 13-12 loss on Friday, before a 2-0 loss on Saturday.

The Yankees had a seven-game lead in the AL East in late May. By July 2, the lead was gone and the Yankees have been looking up at Toronto in the division ever since. The red-hot Boston Red Sox, who were more than 10 games behind the Yankees about two months ago, have overtaken their rival for the second spot in the AL East and AL wild-card lead.

“It’s getting late,” Boone said. “And it’s certainly not too late for us. I am confident that we’re going to get it together. But that’s all it is right now is, you know, it’s empty until we start doing it.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Rodriguez makes history with 4th 20-20 season

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Rodriguez makes history with another 20-20 year

SEATTLE — Julio Rodriguez homered to become the first player in major league history with 20 or more home runs and 20 or more stolen bases in each of his first four seasons, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 on Sunday.

Rodriguez hit a two-run shot in the third inning — his 100th career homer — and the slugging and speedy center fielder also added his 21st stolen base of the season after singling in the fifth inning.

Jorge Polanco added a solo shot in the second, and shortstop J.P. Crawford smacked a two-run blast in the fourth against Rangers starter Jacob deGrom (10-4), who became the fastest pitcher in major league history to reach 1,800 career strikeouts by games and innings Sunday.

The Rangers kept things close by pushing across three runs against Mariners starter Logan Evans (5-4), but tallied only one run against the Mariners bullpen before closer Andrés Muñoz locked down his 25th save of the season.

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