Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco gestures in court at the end of his trial on charges of sexually abusing a minor in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, Monday, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)

PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic — Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco was declared criminally responsible for the sexual and psychological abuse of a minor, but he will not serve a sentence for it, a Dominican judge ruled Monday.

Judge José Antonio Núñez, in his decision, considered that Franco had been the victim of extortion and blackmail by the minor’s mother, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually trafficking her daughter.

“It seems contradictory to declare criminal responsibility and at the same time exempt him from punishment. The court has granted Wander Franco a judicial pardon due to the particular circumstances that made him a material victim, but not a legal one,” explained Núñez.

The judge justified the judicial pardon as a “logical and legal reasoning.”

“Thank God for everything,” Franco expressed as he effusively embraced his mother, Nancy Aybar, and other family members who accompanied him in court.

Franco was arrested in January 2024 after being accused of having a four-month relationship with a girl who was 14 at the time and transferring thousands of dollars to her mother to consent to the illegal relationship.

After the ruling, Franco left the courthouse alongside his lawyer, Teodosio Jáquez, and briefly answered reporters’ questions, saying, “I feel calm.”

Astros no-hit Texas

ARLINGTON, Texas — Houston Astros right-hander Tatsuya Imai and relievers Steven Okert and Alimber Santa combined to throw a no-hitter in a 9-0 win over the Texas Rangers on Monday.

It was the first no-hitter in the major leagues since Shota Imanaga and two Chicago Cubs relievers combined for a 12-0 win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 4, 2024.

The 23-year-old Santa fired two perfect innings and became the first pitcher to finish a no-hitter in his big league debut. Imai went six innings in the 17th regular-season no-hitter in Astros history and fourth that was a combined effort.

57 at 100

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski threw 57 pitches of at least 100 mph — the most in a single game since pitch tracking began in 2008 — while getting 12 strikeouts to match his career high Monday against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The previous record for 100-mph pitches in a single game was 47 by Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene against St. Louis on Sept. 17, 2022.

Elsewhere:

n Colton Cowser hit a two-run game-winning homer in the 13th inning — his second walk-off shot in as many days — to give the Baltimore Orioles a 9-7 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Cowser’s 425-foot blast off Jesse Scholtens (5-3) was just his third homer of the season and punctuated a wild victory in which the Orioles rallied three times in extra innings.