— The Braves have bolstered their outfield by acquiring Joc Pederson from the Cubs for minor league first baseman Bryce Ball. Pederson is batting .230 with 11 homers and 39 RBIs in 73 games this season. He comes to Atlanta less than a week after the Braves lost Ronald Acuña (ah-KOON’-yah) Jr. to a season-ending knee injury.
— Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale had an encouraging outing Thursday as he tries to return to the majors for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2020. He threw three scoreless innings for the FCL Red Sox at the FCL Orioles Orange, his first competitive action in almost two years. The 32-year-old left-hander allowed four hits and struck out five.
— Canada’s deputy chief public health officer says the Blue Jays’ return to their home ballpark is “trending in a very good direction,” although he would not say when an announcement would be made about the Blue Jays’ return to Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays played their home games this year in Dunedin, Florida, and Buffalo, New York, while the U.S.-Canada border has been closed to nonessential travel. Canada plans to open the border to vaccinated Americans in mid-August.