Adam Sanford Charlotte has been dominating the Florida State League in the second half, and Wander Franco and Shane McClanahan have been big contributors. In 53 2?3 innings for Bowling Green this season, Shane McClanahan owned a 13.9% walk rate and threw 61% of his pitches for strikes, neither of which were very good. Since his promotion to Charlotte, he’s been a different pitcher. His walk rate is 3%, and his strike rate is 67%. Triple-A Durham Bulls (57-39) A trio of Durham pitchers shut down Toledo in a 7-1 win over the Mud Hens. After Ian Gibaut opened with a scoreless inning, Ricardo Pinto went the next five, allowing a run. Jake Faria tossed the final three frames. A pair of runs scored on Kean Wong’s third-inning single, and Jesus Sanchez continued his nice start with the Bulls, hitting an insurance RBI double in the seventh. CF Joe McCarthy: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP (.809)DH Jesus Sanchez: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K (.912)SS Jake Cronenworth: 4-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 CS (.972 — left game early)RF Ryan Merritt: 0-for-1, 1 K (.000) RHP Ian Gibaut: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K (1.74)RHP Ricardo Pinto: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K (3.58)RHP Jake Faria: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K (4.23) Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (17-9) Josh Lowe had three extra-base hits in Montgomery’s 4-2 win over Pensacola. He homered in the first inning to give the Biscuits a 1-0 lead, and he also hit two doubles. Jhonleider Salinas opened with a scoreless inning, and Josh Fleming followed with two runs — one earned — allowed in five innings. 2B Vidal Brujan: 0-for-5 (.786)SS Taylor Walls: 0-for-4, 1 BB (.634)CF Josh Lowe: 3-for-4, 2 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB (.760) LHP Josh Fleming: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 2 K (3.75) Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (21-5) Shane McClanahan and Wander Franco led Charlotte to a 2-1 win over St. Lucie. For just the second time in the last month, McClanahan allowed an earned run, but he settled in after the first inning, striking out four in 6 2?3 frames. In the fifth, Franco broke a 1-1 tie with his third home run as a Stone Crab. SS Wander Franco: 2-for-5, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 SB (1.044)C Ronaldo Hernandez: 1-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB (.720)RF Moises Gomez: 1-for-4, 1 2B, 1 K (.655)LF Garrett Whitley: 0-for-2, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 SB (.728) LHP Shane McClanahan: 6 2?3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (0.50) Charlotte’s site offers this recap. Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (17-7) Bowling Green was off. Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (17-13) Hudson Valley was off. Rookie Princeton Rays (12-15) Princeton was edged by Bluefield, 3-2, in Game 1 of their doubleheader. Gionti Turner’s RBI single in the top of the second gave the Rays a 1-0 lead, but the Blue Jays scored the next three runs. Diego Infante homered in the sixth. Jayden Murray allowed two runs in two innings. They were swept with an 11-4 loss in Game 2. Turner’s RBI single in the top of the fourth gave Princeton a 4-1 lead, but over the next two innings, Bluefield scored 10 unanswered runs to pull away. Christian Fernandez was charged with six runs in 3 1?3 innings. CF Nick Schnell (1): 0-for-3, 1 KCF Nick Schnell (2): 1-for-4, 1 2B, 1 K (.762)RF Diego Infante (1): 2-for-3, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI (.863)LF Aldenis Sanchez (2): 2-for-2, 1 R, 2 BB (.672)DH Kevin Melendez: 2-for-3, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K (.792) RHP Jayden Murray (1): 2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (3.00)RHP Christian Fernandez (2): 3 1?3 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (8.53) Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (9-9) Drew Strotman’s rehab continued in the GCL Rays’ 2-1 loss to the GCL Twins. He was charged with an unearned run in 1 2?3 innings, but he did strike out four. Dawson Dimon’s RBI double in the top of the fourth tied the game, but the Twins went back up a half inning later. C Dawson Dimon: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI (.625) RHP Drew Strotman: 1 2?3 IP, 2 H, 1 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 4 K (2.45)RHP Victor Munoz: 4 1?3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K (3.78) CLICK HERE FOR ALL BOX SCORES Wednesday’s games (probables courtesy of milb.com) Durham @ Toledo 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)TBA vs. Drew VerHagen (4-2, 4.82) Montgomery is off. Charlotte @ St. Lucie 10:30 a.m. ET (radio stream)Tommy Romero (8-2, 1.82) vs. Luc Rennie (5-4, 4.57) Bowling Green @ Kane County 7:30 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)TBA vs. Levi Kelly (4-0, 2.27) Hudson Valley vs. Brooklyn 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)TBA vs. Frank Valentino (1-1, 2.76) Princeton vs. Kingsport 6:30 p.m. ET (radio stream)TBA vs. Cesar Loaiza (1-0, 3.32) GCL Rays vs. GCL Orioles 12 p.m. *Listed as TBA on milb.com Scouting the opposition Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit)43-52 (3rd in IL South)Offense: 490 R (7th) .772 OPS (9th)Pitching: 5.14 ERA (9th) 1.45 WHIP (7th)Top-30 prospects: OF Daz Cameron (5), RHP Beau Burrows (6), SS Willi Castro (9), C Jake Rogers (13), RHP Kyle Funkhouser (16), IF Dawel Lugo (17), RHP Bryan Garcia (22), LHP Matt Hall (23), OF Jacob Robson (24), OF Danny Woodrow (25), LHP Ryan Carpenter St. Lucie Mets18-10 (2nd in FSL South)Offense: 367 R (6th) .657 OPS (7th)Pitching: 3.45 ERA (5th) 1.31 WHIP (10th)Top-30 prospects: OF Desmond Lindsay (11), RHP Jordan Humphreys (16), 2B Carlos Cortes (19), RHP Tony Dibrell (24), LHP Kevin Smith (30) Kane County Cougars (Arizona)16-8 (2nd in MWL West)Offense: 416 R (4th) .698 OPS (5th)Pitching: 2.79 ERA (1st) 1.19 WHIP (2nd)Top-30 prospects: SS Geraldo Perdomo (5), OF Alek Thomas (8), SS Blaze Alexander (10), RHP Matt Tabor (14), RHP Ryan Weiss (18), 3B Buddy Kennedy (19), RHP Jackson Goddard (28), OF Dominic Fletcher Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets)17-13 (T-1st in NYPL McNamara)Offense: 118 R (11th) .649 OPS (8th)Pitching: 3.35 ERA (7th) 1.11 WHIP (2nd)Top-30 prospects: None Kingsport Mets14-13 (3rd in AL West)Offense: 125 R (8th) .693 OPS (7th)Pitching: 4.20 ERA (5th) 1.36 WHIP (5th)Top-30 prospects: C Francisco Alvarez (12), RHP Junior Santos (25), 3B Brett Baty GCL Orioles13-4 (1st in GCL South)Offense: 89 R (4th) .696 OPS (6th)Pitching: 3.29 ERA (6th) 1.29 WHIP (6th)Top-30 prospects: C Adley Rutschman, SS Gunnar Henderson Daily news and links The FanGraphs franchise-player draft featured some Rays minor league content. Baseball America subscribers can read about an experiment it tried with the new Triple-A baseball.

Syracuse Crunch Ben Thomas (26) with the puck against the Toronto Marlies in American Hockey League (AHL) action at the War Memorial Arena in Syracuse, New York on Friday, January 5, 2019. Toronto won 5-2. | Scott Thomas Photography 16 points, y’all. 16. The Lightning -Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos is the best shooter of the salary cap era. Geo has the facts to back up that statement! After looking at all the evidence, the debate comes down to Stamkos and Laine. Both are near or at the top in all of the metrics we’ve examined. But to me, the difference is that Stamkos has maintained this success over a much longer period of time. I know that’s not quite fair to Laine, but it also wouldn’t be fair to Stamkos to discount his prolonged success. Stamkos has played in 746 career NHL games over 11 seasons. Laine has played just 237 games over three seasons and is just beginning his journey. -The Lightning are in good company when it comes to Stanley Cup odds for 2020. The top four teams expected to take the East all come from the Atlantic, with the Lightning, Bruins, Leafs and Panthers favoured to win the conference ahead of any Metro-based clubs, according to both BetOnline.ag. -Tampa’s first annual Bolts Beach Bash is slated for July 27th! Mark it down! We’re heading to @pier60clwbeach on Saturday, July 27 for the first annual #BoltsBeachBash. ? https://t.co/MZ0Lf4vdqM https://t.co/lQx1rFGskXThe event is free but don’t forget to RSVP and let us know you’re coming! pic.twitter.com/caZBBszdc9— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) July 16, 2019 The Bolts Beach Bash will kick off at 10 a.m. with a Lightning Made Ball Hockey Tournament followed by a day full of fun beach activities including a cornhole tournament, presented by Corona, live music, inflatables, games, giveaways & more. Ball hockey and cornhole registration can be made on-site or at TampaBayLightning.com/BoltsBeachBash. At 8 p.m. fans can bring their chairs and blankets for a sunset showing of the movie Mighty Ducks 3 on Clearwater Beach. The event will conclude at 9 p.m. with a firework show. The Lightning/Crunch affiliation -The Lightning re-signed RFA Crunch defenseman Ben Thomas to a one-year, two-way contract yesterday. Thomas has been with the organization for three years and has yet to see an NHL call up. Thomas, 23, played in 67 games with the Syracuse Crunch last season, recording two goals and 16 points to go along with 24 penalty minutes. The Calgary, Alberta native set a career high with a plus-18 rating and netted his first career shorthanded goal during the 2018-19 season. -Episode 9 of Syracuse Speaks covered the Crunch’s AHL schedule and finished out the recap of the 2018-19 season, including closing the door on the Connor Ingram trade - and what led up to it - and the great end to Syracuse’s regular season. Here it is for easy listening! The Others The Seattle expansion franchise appears to be close to making a decision on who their new GM will be. The organization itself is declining to comment, but there is word tonight that Seattle’s NHL expansion team is closing in on naming Ron Francis as its first GM. We’ll see how events unfold the next few days; things have been percolating the last few weeks.— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 17, 2019 -The Chicago Blackhawks and the Ottawa Senators made a trade yesterday, sending Zack Smith to Chicago in exchange for Artem Anisimov. TRADE ALERT: The #Blackhawks have acquired forward Zack Smith from the Senators in exchange for forward Artem Anisimov.Smith’s contract has an AAV of $3,250,000 and is signed through the 2020-21 season. pic.twitter.com/O6bKjgCwH5— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) July 16, 2019 -Fun fact time! The Ottawa Senators had had no Russian players for more than five years (Sergei Gonchar was the last one), but in the six months since February 2019 they have acquired prospect Vitaly Abramov, D Nikita Zaitsev, and F Artem Anisimov.— Peter (@rymkrs) July 16, 2019 -The newest Bantering with the Blueshirts came out yesterday. We discuss Kaapo Kakko finally signing his ELC and the role he is most likely to play; we break down Larry Brooks’ take on the wait for Jacob Trouba to re-sign; where Ryan Strome and Vlad Namestnikov might go — if the Rangers are able to move them, and much more. This week’s questions from our listeners were highlighted by a discussion about concussions and who would win in a fight: 100 New York City rats, or a Kodiak bear. -The Boston Bruins have some issues to take care of, says the Bruins Beat podcast, and doing so won’t be easy. BRUINS BEAT The #NHLBruins have some HUGE decisions looming and the salary cap sure won't make it easy. @Matt_Castle22 joins @emarinofsky to break it all down. Presented by @betonline_ag LISTEN: https://t.co/zfI2cWr0qE— Boston Bruins on CLNS (@BruinsCLNS) July 16, 2019 -It is summer, after all, and even Philadelphia Flyers mascots have to get in shape. Lookin’ good, Gritty! @GrittyNHL @NHLFlyers is here at @PlanetFitness #Philadelphia this morning pic.twitter.com/P44xkc14b0— Rob Hartsell (@RobHartsellTMR) July 16, 2019 -Six Degrees of Mike McKenna has a new episode out, this time featuring Ray Barile, Head Athletic Trainer of the 2019 Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues. NEW PODCAST @RayBarile, Head Athletic Trainer @StLouisBlues!- #StanleyCup run- Crazy hours / travel- Olympics/Worlds- Practice goalie- Evolution of sports science- "Weird Al" the massage guy- Art of Running on the Ice- Gloria@ApplePodcasts: https://t.co/qjmWieiSUv pic.twitter.com/LQ18PBX7sG— Mike McKenna (@MikeMcKenna56) July 16, 2019 -Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux want to make it clear that all hockey players are in this together. It doesn’t matter if you’re new to the game. Work hard and have fun, that’s all we ask of our campers. One of our newest campers at the #GirlsWeekend just needed a little upgrade. #CheerForTheOneBehind pic.twitter.com/OFu5RBgNqV— Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux (@LamoureuxTwins) July 16, 2019 -The Calder Cup visited Dennis Robertson’s family’s farm in Fort St. John. View this post on Instagram The #CalderCup victory tour has begun! First up, Dennis Robertson takes the Cup to his family's farm in Fort St. John. : @checkershockey A post shared by AHL (@theahl) on Jul 16, 2019 at 7:20am PDT

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports Baseball is a humbling game Following what was easily the win of the year so far for the Rays, the team hoped to carry the high into tonight’s game. Ryne Stanek took the ball for his league leading 27th start of the year. For the Yankees, it was the all too familiar face of CC Sabathia. The Rays got things started in the top of the second when All-Star Austin Meadows announced his return to the lineup with authority: HOME-RUN: @austin_meadows blasts a solo homer to put @RaysBaseball on the board! ??Catch all of the action against the NY Yankees LIVE now on FOX Sports Sun and FOX Sports Go! #MLB #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/GwIdlVcBoA— FOX Sports Florida (@FOXSportsFL) July 16, 2019 But the Yankees answered right back with a solo homer of their own from Edwin Encarnacion: 28 for in 2019: pic.twitter.com/EsBvuSczMv— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 16, 2019 Jalen Beeks took over for Stanek in the third, fresh off the shuttle from Durham: #Rays recall left-hander Jalen Beeks and option outfielder Guillermo Heredia to Durham— Juan Toribio (@juanctoribio) July 16, 2019 After a quick first inning of work, the Rays offense gave Beeks a little something to work with, this time off the bat of Yandy Diaz: HOME-RUN: @YandyDiaz72 launches a solo homer to return the lead back to @RaysBaseball in the 4th! Watch the matchup against the NY Yankees LIVE now on FOX Sports Sun and FOX Sports Go! #MLB #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/ELVcOwMxME— FOX Sports Florida (@FOXSportsFL) July 17, 2019 Avisail Garcia looked to add another in the same inning, but Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner had something to say about that: Gardyan Angel. pic.twitter.com/NRxGdDYfAG— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 17, 2019 Diaz provided more offense in the sixth, this time with a double to the wall that scored Mike Brosseau. Following a strikeout by Garcia on a questionable call to end the inning, he and Sabathia exchanged words, causing the benches to clear, albeit quickly. The Yankees proceeded to add one of their own on a homer by DJ LeMahieu. It would spell the end of the night for Beeks, who, apart from that, dazzled in his 3.1 innings of work, striking out five: Jalen Beeks, Wicked 79mph Curveball (and unique arm action). pic.twitter.com/cye33EOMsE— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 17, 2019 Hunter Wood replaced Beeks, who induced a double play from Luke Voit to end the sixth. In the next half inning, the Rays had a bases loaded one out threat, but hit into a double play of their own, coming away with nothing to show for it. Wood got one more out in the bottom of the inning before giving up a base hit to Encarnacion. He was immediately replaced by Colin Poche, who’d get the job done in the seventh, but wouldn’t have the same success in the eighth, allowing a two run homer to Aaron Judge. Poche continued to struggle after that, loading that bases and eventually giving up a grand slam to Didi Gregorius, breaking the game open. The Rays would get two on in the bottom of the ninth, but nothing came of the mild threat. The Rays look to bounce back tomorrow with Yonny Chirinos on the hill.

The R&B singer faces charges in Chicago and New York including having sex with minors and trying to cover up the crimes by paying off victims and their families.