Wander Franco, the suspended Tampa Bay Rays shortstop charged in a sexual abuse case, was found guilty on Thursday but received a two-year suspended sentence.

Franco was arrested last year after being accused of having a four-month relationship with a girl who was 14 at the time, and of transferring thousands of dollars to her mother to consent to the illegal relationship.

Franco, now 24, also faced charges of sexual and commercial exploitation against a minor, and human trafficking, but was found not guilty of those.

Judge Jakayra Veras García said Franco made a bad decision as she addressed him during the ruling.

Prosecutors had requested a five-year prison sentence against Franco and a 10-year sentence against the girl’s mother, who was found guilty and will serve the full term.

Franco’s attorney, Irina Ventura, said she would appeal the judge’s ruling: “Evidently, justice was not done.”

Meanwhile, prosecutor Luis Martínez said he was pleased with the rulings but did not say whether the government would appeal.

Judge, Ohtani are first All-Star Game electees

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani and the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge were the first players picked for the July 15 All-Star Game at Atlanta’s Truist Park, elected as starters by fans.

Judge led the major leagues with 4,012,983 votes in the first round of fan balloting and the outfielder was picked for his seventh American League start in eight All-Star Games, though he missed the 2023 game because of a sprained right big toe. He also was the leading vote-getter during the first phase in 2022 and last year.

Ohtani topped the NL and was second in the big leagues with 3,967,668 votes, becoming the first designated hitter to start in five straight All-Star Games.

Remaining starters will be announced on July 2. Pitchers and reserves will be revealed on July 6.

Enns returns to MLB mound after 1,371 days

Dietrich Enns probably won’t have to wait another 1,371 days for another chance to pitch in the major leagues.

Enns threw five scoreless innings while allowing only one single and two walks in a start for Detroit on Thursday in the Tigers’ 8-0 win over the Athletics. It was the 34-year-old left-hander’s first big league game since Sept. 24, 2021.

After pitching the past three years in Japan and Korea, Enns went to spring training this year with the Tigers on a minor league deal. The former Central Michigan University pitcher got called up from Triple-A Toledo for his Detroit debut in the series finale against the Athletics.

Enns’ last big league appearance had been two innings in relief for Tampa Bay against Miami at the end of the 2021 season.

He was with the Seibu Lions in Japan from 2022-23 before going 13-6 last year for the LG Twins in South Korea.

Bonds to get statue outside Giants’ ballpark

Barry Bonds will be getting a statue outside the San Francisco Giants’ home stadium where he set baseball’s career home run record, Giants President and Chief Executive Officer Larry Baer said.

Bonds played for San Francisco the last 15 of his 22 big league seasons, hitting 586 of his 762 homers while with the Giants from 1993-2007. He set the single-season MLB record with 73 homers in 2001, and hit his record-breaking 756th homer to pass Hank Aaron in a home game off Washington’s Mike Bacsik on Aug. 7, 2007.

There are currently five statues outside Oracle Park, those of Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry and Orlando Cepeda. The Giants retired Bonds’ No. 25 jersey in 2018.

Cubs’ ace Imanaga returns to beat Cards

Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga pitched five scoreless innings against the St. Louis Cardinals, helping Chicago to a 3-0 victory in his return from a strained left hamstring that had sidelined him since May 4.

The Cubs split the four-game series, blanking the Cardinals in the final two games.

Imanaga, a 31-year-old from Japan in his second season with Chicago, was activated from the 15-day injured list to pitch vs. the Cardinals.

Imanaga (4-2) threw 77 pitches, 49 for strikes, and allowed one hit — a first-inning single to Masyn Winn. After that, he retired 10 straight batters before issuing his lone walk. He struck out three.