NEW YORK (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals first-round draft pick Griffin Roberts has been suspended 50 games after testing positive for a drug of abuse.Major League Baseball announced the ban Friday.Roberts is a right-handed reliever who was selected 43rd overall from Wake Forest this year. He pitched for Class A Palm Beach after signing for $1
http://www.stlouiscardinalsteamshop.com/authentic-jason-motte-jersey ,664,200 and had been expected to move quickly through the minor leagues.This was Roberts’ second violation for a drug of abuse, and he will not be paid during the suspension.Four other minor leaguers were also suspended for 50 games Friday: Red Sox pitcher Francisco Lopez-Soto, Yankees pitcher Alex Mauricio, Reds catcher Hunter Oliver and Athletics pitcher Dallas Woolfolk. Lopez-Soto and Mauricio were banned for drugs of abuse, and Oliver and Woolfolk tested positive for the stimulant Amphetamine. None of those players has played beyond Class A. PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cesar Hernandez gave Philadelphia a fast start, homering on the first pitch from Jose Urena. But the Phillies couldn’t sustain it and missed a chance to move up in the playoff race.Peter O’Brien homered and drove in three runs as the Miami Marlins blunted Philadelphia’s bid to draw closer in the NL East with a 6-4 win Sunday.The Phillies remained 6 1/2 games behind division-leading Atlanta, which lost to Washington
Yadier Molina Jersey , with two weeks left.Nick Pivetta (7-13), who has won only one of his last 11 starts, struck out seven in the first three innings. O’Brien’s two-run homer in the fourth inning put the Marlins ahead for good at 2-1.“(Pivetta’s) stuff was electric early,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said. “I think the only hard-hit ball that comes to mind for me was the home run to O’Brien.“It looked like he was going to roll and he ran into a little bit of a buzzsaw there.”Miami ended a five-game losing streak. Bryan Holaday added a pair of doubles.Urena (7-12) allowed one run and three hits through a five-inning stint for his third straight win. He left early because of cramping in his pitching hand.Urena is 4-0 with a 2.16 ERA over his last five starts dating to Aug. 19, when he was pitching under appeal of a six-game suspension he’d incurred for hitting Atlanta rookie Ronald Acuna with a fastball. He later dropped the appeal, and hasn’t lost since.The cramping, Urena said, was caused by throwing too many curveballs with a new grip he’s been using.“I will be fine
http://www.stlouiscardinalsteamshop.com/authentic-brett-cecil-jersey ,” he said later. “It’s gone away. … I threw a couple of curveballs. I kept (the hand) open then because if I squeeze it, it probably gets worse.”The Marlins scored three times in the sixth against Luis Garcia for a 6-1 lead.With runners at the corners and no outs, O’Brien hit a long fly to right field and Odubel Herrera — more accustomed to playing in center — had the ball bounce out of his glove before he smacked his head against the fence. The Phillies wound up getting a forceout at second base as a run scored.Herrera left the game in the seventh.Down 6-2, Philadelphia scored twice in the ninth, helped by a two-out error by second baseman Starlin Castro. Rhys Hoskins struck out with a runner on to end it.TRAINER’S ROOMMarlins: Urena was pulled for precautionary reasons.Phillies: 3B Maikel Franco missed his fourth straight start because of pain in his right shoulder. He flipped over a rail and into a camera well last Tuesday.KLENTAK’S VIEWBefore the game, Phillies GM Matt Klentak was asked if he thought several veteran acquisitions he made before and after the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline could have worked against clubhouse chemistry down the Phillies’ sad stretch.“Whatever it is that caused us to go into a team-wide slump in August is not limited to one factor,” he said. “It’s probably some kind of combination of a lot of things. I will not sit here and tell you the chemistry changed in such a way that that is the reason we struggled. I don’t believe that,” he said.UP NEXTMarlins: Begin a two-game home set against the Washington Nationals on Monday. They will send RHP Trevor Richards (3-9
Adam Wainwright Jersey , 4.85) against RHP Erick Fedde (2-3, 5.12) in the series opener.Phillies: A three-game home series against the Mets starts Monday with RHP Jake Arrieta (10-9, 3.66) facing RHP Zack Wheeler (11-7, 3.23).