Verlander, Alcantara unanimous Cy Youngs

The Astros’ Justin Verlander and Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara were unanimous winners of the Cy Young Awards announced Wednesday night.

It was the first time since 1968 that both the American and National League winners were unanimous. Denny McLain of the Tigers and Bob Gibson of the Cardinals won the awards that year and also were their league MVPs. McLain was unanimous as AL MVP.

Verlander, 39, won his third AL Cy Young — he won in 2011 with the Tigers and 2019 with the Astros — after missing almost all of the last two seasons with an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery.

He had an AL-high 18 victories this past season with just four losses and had a league-best 1.75 ERA.

Alcantara posted a 2.28 ERA while pitching a major league-best 228 ⅔ innings and six complete games.

It’s the first Cy Young for the 27-year-old from the

Dominican Republic, who becomes the first Marlins player to receive the honor.

The two-time All-Star went 14-9 and threw seven or more innings in 13 straight starts from May 11-July 15, which was the longest such streak since 2014.

Alcantara’s innings pitched and wins were both career highs and his ERA was his best in six seasons and ranked second in the NL.

NBA: All-Star G Kyrie Irving could rejoin the Nets as soon as Sunday’s home game against the Grizzlies at Barclays Center, ESPN reported. Irving missed his eighth consecutive game Thursday. The Nets gave Irving a minimum five-game suspension for his failure to initially apologize and condemn his social media link to a film riddled with antisemitic material.

NFL: QB Matthew Stafford is expected to play for the Rams against the Saints on Sunday after missing last weekend’s loss to the Cardinals while in the concussion protocol.