Community Picks: Pittsburgh Pirates 0% vs St. Louis Cardinals 0%

On Tuesday, Major League Baseball announced that Pittsburgh Pirates star outfielder Starling Marte had been suspended for 80 games after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. Aaron Gordon of Vice Sports spoke with Victor Conte, the former head of the Bay-Area Laboratory Co-Operative, a lab that was linked to performance-enhancing drugs used by star athletes. Continue to Article

April 19, 2017 11:46:am EST

In their first game without Starling Marte until sometime in July, the Pittsburgh Pirates were reminded in some ways of how much they will miss their new center fielder. Marte is out for 80 games, caught using nandrolone, a performance-enhancer prohibited by Major League Baseball. Perhaps Marte's presence could have made a difference Tuesday night in a 2-1 loss to St. Louis in which Pittsburgh outhit the Cardinals 11-4 but went 1-for-10 with men in scoring position and stranded nine runners. The Pirates (6-8) will try to make up for Marte's absence and avoid a sweep at St. Louis' hands Wednesday in a matinee wrap-up to a three-game series at Busch Stadium. Marte apologized to the team and his Continue to Article

April 19, 2017 4:00:am EST

Major League Baseball's reaction to Starling Marte's 80-game suspension Tuesday -- and the cloud that has now descended on the sport just two weeks into the season -- came in the form of a 51-word news release announcing the specifics. Manfred would most likely herald Marte's suspension as another sign that baseball is ever vigilant in its efforts to eradicate performance-enhancing drugs. The Marte news is terrible for the Pittsburgh Pirates, worse for Marte and ultimately another setback for a game that's always one failed test away from trying to extricate itself from PED quicksand. It has been almost a year since Miami Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon, the 2015 National League batting champion, received an 80-game suspension for steroid use. Continue to Article

April 19, 2017 12:26:am EST

Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star outfielder Starling Marte has been banned 80 games for violating Major League Baseball's policy against performance-enhancing drugs, the league said on Tuesday. Marte, a two-time Gold Glove winner who last year played in his first All-Star Game, tested positive for nandrolone, MLB said in a statement. The suspension of the 28-year-old Dominican, who has been with Pittsburgh since his MLB debut in 2012, is effective immediately. Continue to Article

April 18, 2017 10:42:pm EST