Indians ace Shane Bieber was the unanimous winner of the AL Cy Young Award on Wednesday night, and Trevor Bauer became the first player to take home the NL honor for the Reds.

Using a versatile repertoire that includes a looping curveball and a wipeout slider, the right-handed Bieber went 8-1 with a 1.63 ERA and 122 strikeouts in 771/3 innings during the pandemic-shortened season, leading the majors in ERA and strikeouts and tying the Cubs’ Yu Darvish for the most victories.

Bieber became the second player in franchise history to win the pitching AL Triple Crown, joining Hall of Famer Bob Feller in 1940. He also was the first pitcher to lead the majors in all three categories since Johan Santana for the Twins in 2006.

Bauer went 5-4 with an NL-best 1.73 ERA in 11 starts, helping the Reds reach the playoffs for the first time since 2013. The 29-year-old right-hander struck out 100 in 73 innings and led the majors with two shutouts, a pair of seven-inning performances on doubleheader days.

The brash Bauer is the first Cy Young winner for the Reds, the majors’ oldest franchise. He became a free agent after the season and turned down the Reds’ qualifying offer, but left the door open for a return.

Darvish finished second in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Mets ace Jacob deGrom was third, ending his bid for a third consecutive NL Cy Young Award.

Bieber, 25, was the first unanimous AL winner since Justin Verlander for the Tigers in 2011.

Twins right-hander Kenta Maeda was second in AL voting.

Mets RHP Marcus Stroman and Giants RHP Kevin Gausman accepted one-year, $18.9 million qualifying offers. Four players declined qualifying offers at the deadline: Bauer, Astros OF George Springer, Yankees 2B DJ LeMahieu and Phillies C J.T. Realmuto from Philadelphia.

College football: Wisconsin starting QB Graham Mertz remains in the protocol as he recovers from COVID-19, but could return for Saturday’s road game against Michigan. The redshirt freshman had a record-setting performance Oct. 23 in a season-opening win against Illinois but tested positive for COVID-19 the following day. Backup QB Chase Wolf also tested positive, as No. 13 Wisconsin endured a COVID-19 outbreak that forced the cancellations of games with Nebraska (Oct. 31) and Purdue (Nov. 7).

NBA: Former Spurs star Tim Duncan stepped away from his position as a full-time assistant coach for the team, according to reports. Duncan, part of the 2020 Hall of Fame class, spent last season on coach Gregg Popovich’s staff. Duncan, 44, didn’t join the Spurs in the Walt Disney World bubble for the league restart, remaining in San Antonio to help LaMarcus Aldridge rehabilitate from shoulder surgery.

NFL: All-Pro RB Christian McCaffrey likely will miss the Panthers’ game against the Bucs on Sunday because of a shoulder injury. McCaffrey, who’s getting a second opinion, missed six games with a high ankle injury before returning last weekend in the team’s loss to the Chiefs.