Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images Nate and Josh Lowe have combined for 31 home runs in the minors this season. A couple weeks ago, MLB Pipeline named a prospect who will contribute to each contending team down the stretch, and its selection for the Rays was Nate Lowe. I don’t know where he would get the at-bats, but at Durham, he’s certainly hitting like a player who’s going to be a contributor. Since being sent back down, he’s batting .327/.417/.577 with as many walks as strikeouts. Triple-A Durham Bulls (69-56) Durham lost a lead but rebounded for a 10-7 win over Buffalo. Nate Lowe homered in the first, and after the Bisons tied the game at two, the Bulls scored four times in the second. Buffalo retied the game — and did so again at seven — before Michael Perez’s two-run homer capped a three-run eighth that gave Durham the lead for good. Austin Pruitt allowed three runs in four innings. 1B Nate Lowe: 4-for-5, 3 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI (.948)DH Michael Perez: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K (.798)LF Dalton Kelly: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 HBP (.785) RHP Austin Pruitt: 4 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (5.40)RHP Jose De Leon: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (3.97) Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (37-19) A trio of Biscuits pitchers combined to shut out Biloxi, 4-0. Matt Krook opened with an inning, and Paul Campbell struck out six in six innings. Ivan Pelaez finished the last two innings. Josh Lowe hit an RBI double in the second and later hit a solo home run. SS Lucius Fox: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K (.683)3B Taylor Walls: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB (.797)CF Josh Lowe: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI (.766) LHP Matt Krook: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K (3.94)RHP Paul Campbell: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K (2.96) Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (42-17) Charlotte rallied for a 5-2 win over St. Lucie. Niko Hulsizer made his Stone Crabs debut, and he got them on the board with an RBI single in the sixth, cutting their deficit to 2-1. In the seventh, they took the lead on Brandon Lowe’s RBI double, and Ronaldo Hernandez followed with a two-run homer. Michael Plassmeyer allowed a run in five innings. 2B Joey Wendle: 1-for-4, 1 RDH Brandon Lowe: 1-for-3, 2 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 HBPSS Wander Franco: 2-for-5, 1 R (.862)C Ronaldo Hernandez: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K (.712)RF Moises Gomez: 1-for-4, 2 K (.699)LF Niko Hulsizer: 3-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 K (1.500)CF Garrett Whitley: 0-for-4, 2 K (.756) LHP Michael Plassmeyer: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (2.23) Charlotte’s site offers this recap. Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (32-23) Bowling Green fell to Fort Wayne, 4-2. The TinCaps took 1-0 and 2-1 leads, but in each instance, the Hot Rods tied the game a half inning later, first on a Grant Witherspoon RBI single and then an error. However, there was no response to Fort Wayne’s two eighth-inning runs. Caleb Sampen allowed two runs in four innings. RF Ruben Cardenas: 3-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B (.800)CF Nick Schnell: 1-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 HBP (.583)3B Osmy Gregorio: 1-for-2, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP (.557) RHP Caleb Sampen: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (2.75) Bowling Green’s site offers this recap. Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (36-26) Hudson Valley didn’t get enough offense in a 4-1 loss to Staten Island. The Renegades only had four hits, and their lone run scored on K.V. Edwards’ bases-loaded walk. The Yankees closed the game with three unanswered runs. John Doxakis pitched 2 1?3 scoreless innings. SS Greg Jones: 0-for-4, 3 K (.855) LHP John Doxakis: 2 1?3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K (2.55) Rookie Princeton Rays (27-30) Princeton topped Elizabethton, 4-2. RBI singles from Brett Wisely and Yunior Martinez in the first and second innings gave the Rays a 2-0 lead, but the Twins tied the game in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, Jhosner Vargas hit an RBI double and scored on another Martinez single. Taj Bradley allowed two runs in four innings. RF Diego Infante: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 K (.848) RHP Taj Bradley: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (3.60)LHP Stanly Sabino: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K (3.78) Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (19-23) The GCL Rays were off. CLICK HERE FOR ALL BOX SCORES Monday’s games (probables courtesy of milb.com) Durham vs. Charlotte 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)TBA vs. TBA Montgomery vs. Biloxi 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)Joe Ryan (8-1, 2.40) vs. Dylan File (8-1, 2.40) Charlotte is off. Bowling Green @ Fort Wayne 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)TBA vs. Edwuin Bencomo (1-0, 3.04) Hudson Valley vs. Staten Island 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)TBA vs. TBA Princeton vs. Elizabethton 6:30 p.m. ET (radio stream)TBA vs. Andriu Marin (2-2, 5.31) GCL Rays vs. GCL Red Sox 10 a.m. DOUBLEHEADER Both games will be seven innings. Completion of suspended game. *Listed as TBA on milb.com Scouting the opposition Charlotte Knights (White Sox)69-56 (T-2nd in IL South)Offense: 672 R (3rd) .822 OPS (3rd)Pitching: 5.38 ERA (12th) 1.53 WHIP (13th)Top-30 prospects: OF Luis Robert (1), 2B Nick Madrigal (5), C Zack Collins (12), RHP Ian Hamilton (13), C Seby Zavala (15), RHP Spencer Adams (20), RHP Zach Thompson (28), OF Brandon Guyer, LHP Hunter Schryver Biloxi Shuckers (Milwaukee)35-20Offense: 501 R (4th) .700 OPS (4th)Pitching: 3.20 ERA (4th) 1.14 WHIP (1st)Top-30 prospects: RHP Drew Rasmussen (12), RHP Dylan File (28), C Alexander Alvarez, 3B Patrick Leonard Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego)24-31 (6th in MWL East)Offense: 509 R (7th) .683 OPS (8th)Pitching: 4.11 ERA (11th) 1.29 WHIP (8th)Top-30 prospects: SS CJ Abrams (6), LHP Ryan Weathers (13), 2B Tucupita Marcano (27) Staten Island Yankees34-28 (T-3rd in NYPL McNamara)Offense: 233 R (3rd) .680 OPS (2nd)Pitching: 3.22 ERA (5th) 1.11 WHIP (3rd)Top-30 prospects: OF Everson Pereira (3), IF Josh Smith (23) Elizabethton Twins27-30 (4th in AL West)Offense: 291 R (2nd) .776 OPS (1st)Pitching: 4.38 ERA (4th) 1.41 WHIP (5th)Top-30 prospects: OF Matt Wallner (11) GCL Red Sox21-21 (3rd in GCL South)Offense: 174 R (6th) .720 OPS (3rd)Pitching: 3.06 ERA (3rd) 1.21 WHIP (3rd)Top-30 prospects: SS Matthew Lugo (18) Daily news and links Former Rays prospect Brock Burke could soon make his major league debut. The court of appeals ruled today that minor league baseball players may proceed with their wage case as a class action. Great work by our team of lawyers at Korein Tillery, LLC!https://t.co/QTTtLnkYLV— Garrett Broshuis (@broshuis) August 16, 2019

Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The season is getting closer, we swear. The Lightning -Caley Chelios and her crew broke down the Tampa Bay Lightning’s NHL schedule for the team’s Twitter account. It was posted yesterday. “I always think it’s good to start a season on the road, it’s good for the players, good for the coaches to get to know each other. They are eight road games in October. October and January are going to be the worst months.” .@caleychelios is joined by Brian, Chief, and @davemishkin to break down our upcoming 2019-20 schedule, starting on the road, and how our #NHLGlobalSeries games in Sweden fit into it all. pic.twitter.com/4qyoitv0iL— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) August 18, 2019 -The Sunshine State Girls Hockey Festival was over the weekend, with Lightning Made Hockey present to lend their support! What an incredible weekend celebrating girls’ hockey in Florida! Big thank yous to @LightningMade and all those involved in the Sunshine State Girls Hockey Festival for having @yourpalMAL9 and @Accursi6 join in on the fun! pic.twitter.com/FQMOri81mS— NWHL (@NWHL) August 18, 2019 The Game -Here, something wholesome for your Monday. Former Lightning forward Ryan Callahan has an adorable child. Hockey, y’all! Hockey! Little mans first pair of skates!!! “Hockey” pic.twitter.com/rJDkxuFSWu— Ryan Callahan (@TheRealCally24) August 18, 2019 (...it hurt to type “former Lightning forward Ryan Callahan”...) -Team Sweden is on strike. Sweden’s national women’s team has decided to boycott both a training camp and the upcoming 5 Nations Tournament that starts Aug. 20 in Finland. Yesterday, Meredith Foster of The Ice Garden explained why we need to pay attention to this. Make no mistake: All of this was entirely preventable. The Damkronorna have been systematically and routinely mistreated, undervalued, underfunded, and blamed for the mistakes of powerful men. The federation brought this boycott on themselves with years of empty words, shrugged shoulders, and the continued indignities heaped on players who were expected to spin gold medals out of a dung heap. The players want money, yes, but they also want to be treated with respect. -Mike McKenna is still campaigning strong for the Backup Towel to make an official comeback. Towel mania. Seriously...please fellow keepers...bring it back. The tradition should have never died. #StarterTowel #BackupTowel https://t.co/efjAnACKW9— Mike McKenna (@MikeMcKenna56) August 18, 2019 (What do you mean, this isn’t news? It’s a Sunday in the final half of August. You’re lucky I’m not posting all Harry Potter memes) Seriously, though, he brings up a good point...and wears said towel quite well, if I do say so myself. I mean...if you're going to ride the pine in the National, you might as well look good and stay warm #BackupTowel pic.twitter.com/rDNHNmSV7a— Mike McKenna (@MikeMcKenna56) August 18, 2019 -Elite Prospects’ Pipeline Show podcast is back. Season 15 of The Pipeline Show is now officially underway and by tradition, that means the in-depth season previews for all 22 Western Hockey League franchises are also beginning. But before we get to the three WHL teams of this week, a fantastic recap of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup kicks off the new season for NHL scouts. -Another podcast that came out yesterday is Pension Plan Puppets Back to Excited. Welcome back to another episode of Back to Excited. Today we discuss: -The Leafs and the expansion draft [1:47] -Allocating resources across various positions [7:40] -The Leafs Top 25 Under 25 - specifically, Jeremy Bracco, Timothy Liljegren, and Travis Dermott [41:17] -Carey Price isn’t sold on his fancy red solid color goalie pads, and will be back in primarily white pads to start the season with the Montreal Canadiens. Carey Price was wearing the red @ccmgoalie pads and gloves we saw for a handful of @canadiensmtl games last season but the #solidcolorpadscrew shouldn't get too excited; he told InGoal during the @eliwilsong #DayWithPrice he'd be back in primarily white pads to start the season pic.twitter.com/7EoIFIDx5K— InGoal Magazine (@InGoalMedia) August 18, 2019

Plus-size apparel retailer Avenue Stores will close all of its locations and began liquidation sales. There are seven local stores closing include: 2430 West Brandon Blvd., Brandon 10500 Ulmerton Road, Largo 3615 South Florida Ave., Lakeland The closings were announced in a press release from Hilco Merchant Resources, which handles liquidations sales for major retailers. The liquidation is expected to be complete by September, employees reportedly were told during a conference call last week.…

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – Jury selection begins Monday in the manslaughter trial for Michael Drejka. Drejka shot and killed Markeis McGlockton in 2018 in Clearwater after an argument over a handicap parking spot. Much of the trial will hinge on surveillance video of the deadly encounter. Attorneys will argue – does it show a […]