Guardians' Shane Bieber (forearm) will miss start

Cleveland right-hander Shane Bieber had an MRI exam on his sore right forearm on Friday and, while the Guardians didn't immediately place him on the injured list, they announced he would miss at least one start.

Bieber had been scheduled to pitch in Pittsburgh on Monday. Now the team is awaiting the test results to determine his immediate future.

Guardians manager Terry Francona said, "For about the last month, (his) forearm has been kind of irritable, but we felt like he was trending in the right direction. For (a few) starts there, I think we held him to like 80 pitches. But the last couple (starts), he wasn't comfortable with the way he's bouncing back."

Bieber is 5-6 with a 3.77 ERA in 19 starts this year, but he is 0-3 with a 5.22 ERA in his past five outings.

He most recently pitched on Sunday, when he gave up four runs on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings during a 4-1 loss to the visiting Kansas City Royals. Bieber struck out six without issuing a walk.

Bieber, 28, was the 2020 American League Cy Young Award winner after going 8-1 with a 1.63 ERA in 12 starts during the pandemic-abbreviated season. The two-time All-Star has a career 59-32 record with a 3.26 ERA in 132 games (130 starts).