Rays put young SS on bench
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. >> Tampa Bay shortstop Wander Franco has been benched and will not play in Thursday and Friday’s games against Kansas City at least by Rays manager Kevin Cash for the way he has handled frustrating situations this year.
“Wander is a really good kid, really good person,” Cash said before Thursday night’s game with the Royals. “He’s a young player that is learning and dealing with the challenges of being a major league player, and some of the frustrations that come with it.
“Over the course of this season there’s been probably multiple times that the way he has handled his frustrations have not been the way that we ask our players to uphold being the best teammate.”
Cash declined to give specifics about any incidents, but the 22-year old has not run out grounders at times and has some baserunning lapses.
Also, Franco has thrown his bat after striking out, and last Sunday declined to talk to reporters after making two errors on one play.
“We’re going to continue to support Wander as he works through this,” Cash said. “I’m personally going to (help), this organization will, this staff will. We look forward to having him back.”
Franco is hitting .287 with eight homers, 34 RBIs and has stolen 24 bases.
TWINS 6, RED SOX 0
MINNEAPOLIS >> Joe Ryan pitched a three-hitter for Minnesota’s first complete-game shutout in five years, Byron Buxton became the first player in at least nine seasons to hit a pair of 460-foot home runs in a game and the Twins beat the Boston Red Sox.
GUARDIANS 6, A’S 1
CLEVELAND >> Josh Bell homered off an “Ohio” sign beyond the left-field wall and Myles Straw hit an RBI triple, leading the Cleveland Guardians to a win and three-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics, who lost their eighth straight.
D’BACKS 5, NATIONALS 3
WASHINGTON >> Ketel Marte hit a threerun homer over Washington’s bullpen in right field, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a win after Nationals manager Dave Martinez was ejected for complaining about umpire Doug Eddings’ strike zone.