In a bit of news straight out of center field, Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Starling Marte has been suspended by MLB for 80 games after testing positive for PEDs (nandrolone) and violating the league's drug policy. He will begin serving his suspension immediately. In a statement, Marte called the suspension a “difficult moment.” His full statement reads: “I have been informed that I have tested in one of the tests that are regularly done in my job. In this very difficult moment, I ... Read More
Starling Marte’s 11th-inning homer leads Pirates in sweep over Braves
Get out the brooms, because the Pittsburgh Pirates just swept the Atlanta Braves. Sunday at PNC Park, the Pirates beat the Braves 6-5 in 10 innings after winning 6-4 on Saturday and 5-4 on Friday. Pittsburgh starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (6.55 ERA, 1.64 WHIP) turned in a pretty mediocre second start of the season, giving up three runs on eight hits in six innings. Two of those runs came as a result of home runs — Dansby Swanson launched a 390-foot one-run homer in the first inning and ... Read More
Pirates raise Jolly Roger for first time this season with win over Braves
Raise it! For the first time this season, the Pittsburgh Pirates have something in the win column after Friday's 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves at PNC Park in the home opener. Pittsburgh (1-2) lost its first two games of the season to the Boston Red Sox, and a scheduled third game was rained out. Ivan Nova got the start for the Pirates and allowed just one run on six hits in six innings. It was his first Opening Day start of any sort, and he struck out four and gave up no walks. Mike ... Read More
Red Sox outlast Pirates 3-0 in 12-inning pitcher’s duel
The Pittsburgh Pirates never had a runner in scoring position in Wednesday night's game — yet it still took 12 innings for the Boston Red Sox to get the 3-0 win. With one out in the bottom of the 12th, Boston catcher Sandy León drilled a ball 359 feet to deep left center, scoring Jackie Bradley Jr. and Pablo Sandoval, both of whom got on base via walks given up by Pittsburgh reliever Antonio Bastardo. León made a base running error in the third inning that could have had the game ended ... Read More
Fifth inning derails strong Opening Day start for Gerrit Cole, Pirates
In the first four innings of Monday's season opener against the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates starter Gerrit Cole gave up one hit and one walk on 50 pitches. But all that was derailed in one frame. In the fifth inning, Cole faced all nine of Boston's batters and gave up five runs on six hits. Those five runs were all the Red Sox would need to take home the “W” on opening day at Fenway Park, beating the Pirates by a final score of 5-3. That fifth inning started innocuously enough when ... Read More
Pirates, Cardinals to play special game in Williamsport as part of LLWS
Thursday morning, Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association announced plans for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals to play a special regular season game in conjunction with the 2017 Little League World Series on Sunday, August 20th. The game, originally slated to be played at PNC Park, will instead be played at BB&T Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field in Williamsport, Penn., just a few miles up the road from where the Little League World Series ... Read More
Andrew McCutchen pens honest, emotional letter in Players’ Tribune
All offseason, Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen was plagued by trade rumors and complaints about his play. Now, in a piece on the Players' Tribune, McCutchen opens up about what all that was like. He writes: “I'm not gonna lie. I Googled my own name more than a few times this off-season to see if there was any news. It was hard not to when just about every conversation I had with friends, family and even strangers started with them asking me, “So, what’s the latest?” Truth ... Read More
Starling Marte says he’s moving to center field next season
All offseason, there's been talk of moves regarding Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen. Now, it appears McCutchen is indeed being moved — just to a different position. Pirates outfielder Starling Marte told MLB Dominicana that he would be playing center field next season, moving over from left field. This means McCutchen and Gregory Polanco will be Pittsburgh's corner outfielders for the 2017 season. El OF @Starlingmart confirma que jugará en la pradera central para la próxima ... Read More
Who from this year’s class belongs in the Hall of Fame?
Tonight, the 2017 Hall of Fame class will be announced. With a lot of big names — and some very controversial ones (Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, etc.), it should be a fun night. Here's who three of our PSN staffers think deserves a spot in the Cooperstown. Shannon Carroll: Barry Bonds, outfielder, Pittsburgh Pirates/San Francisco Giants Put down the pitchforks, please! Now, despite living in Pittsburgh, I'm from San Francisco, so we have a very different opinion of Bonds (he ... Read More
Five best Pittsburgh sports moments from 2016
Farewell, 2016. You won’t be missed. (But we will miss you, The King.) But as much as 2016 sucked, there were some great sports moments in the Steel City. Here, we look at the top-5 Pittsburgh sports moments from 2016. 5. Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco come into their own Andrew McCutchen had a pretty bad season — there’s really no way to sugar coat it. But fellow outfielders Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco both came into their own this season, which promises big things for ... Read More