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Miami Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon has been suspended for 80 games after testing positive for performance-enhancing substances, Major League Baseball announced Friday morning. 

According to Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan, MLB confirmed Gordon tested positive for testosterone and clostebol.

Gordon, the National League‘s reigning batting champion, will begin serving his suspension immediately.

Yahoo Sports’ Big League Stew relayed MLB’s official statement on the suspension: 

According to Yahoo Sports’ Tim Brown, the “announcement came tonight because he only just dropped his appeal and wanted to tell his teammates what happened.”

ESPN.com‘s Jayson Stark reported Gordon tested positive during spring training.

Gordon released a statement on Friday, via Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press:

Marlins president David P. Samson also released a statement:

Shortly after the news broke, Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander provided a pointed take regarding MLB’s PED policy (warning: NSFW language): 

Losing Gordon for 80 games is a crippling blow to a Marlins offense that was already struggling to produce runs with him in the lineup.

Through 21 games, the Marlins have pushed just 79 baserunners across home plate. That mark ranks 13th among all National League teams and ahead of only the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies.

Gordon was hardly producing up to his All-Star standards with a .266 batting average, six stolen bases and five RBI. But as a sensational 2015 season demonstrated, his consistency at the plate quickly became an invaluable piece of the puzzle in Miami. 

ESPN Stats & Info put Gordon’s recent production in perspective: 

The Marlins banked on Gordon holding down the fort atop their batting order when they signed him to a five-year, $50 million extension during the offseason, but now they’ll need to turn to a less established alternative. 

Derek Dietrich has appeared in two games at second base this season and projects as Gordon’s likely replacement. However, he owns a lowly .238 career batting average and a cumulative defensive WAR rating of minus-2.6, per Baseball-Reference.com. 

If there’s good news for the Marlins, it’s that Dietrich has started the 2016 season in relatively strong fashion. In 31 plate appearances, Dietrich is batting .321 with six RBI, one home run, three doubles and a triple. 

The Marlins could also plug Miguel Rojas in at second base if they’re inclined to go with a more polished defensive option, but he’s batting a meager .222 in 2016. 

Stats courtesy of MLB.com and Baseball-Reference.com. 

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The Detroit Tigers announced they activated pitcher Francisco Rodriguez from the family medical emergency list and optioned outfielder Tyler Collins to Triple-A Toledo on Wednesday.

Collins, 25, had two hits in 20 at-bats this season. He was also the source of some controversy Monday after flipping off a booing Detroit crowd after misplaying a ball in the outfield.      

“To hear boos after that play hit a trigger inside of me, and I lashed out, completely inappropriately,” Collins said, per Katie Strang of ESPN.com. “I’m absolutely embarrassed, and I’m very sorry to everyone in Detroit.”

Rodriguez, 34, recorded four saves in five opportunities before briefly leaving the team. He’d struggled through most of his first seven appearances, giving up five runs in 6.1 innings. 

“Second-guessing myself,” Rodriguez said, per George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press. “Walking the tying and go-ahead run is something that you as closer cannot let happen. You cannot do it. Simple as that. So I’ve just got to make some adjustments quick and start pitching better. Simple as that.”

The Tigers have lost five of their last six games and were not in a save situation during Rodriguez’s absence. He’ll likely continue to hold down the ninth inning for the foreseeable future despite his struggles.

Rodriguez had been stellar during his stint with the Milwaukee Brewers, which spanned parts of five seasons. His difficulty avoiding bats brings to mind his last stint in the American League, when he posted a 4.50 ERA in 23 games with the Baltimore Orioles.

Collins has played 88 MLB games over the last three seasons. He set a career high in games played last season with 60, hitting four home runs and driving in 25 runs. The Tigers have all the outfield depth they need, so this move shouldn’t affect their roster outlook all that much. 

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Former MLB outfielder David Murphy reportedly retired from baseball Monday, according to Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News. 

Murphy, 34, hit .274 with 104 home runs and 472 RBI in 10 MLB seasons with the Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Angels.

Murphy had been playing with the Minnesota Twins’ Triple-A affiliate, Rochester. When young outfielders Byron Buxton and Max Kepler were sent back down from the majors, however, the minor league club didn’t have playing time for Murphy, according to Fraley.

He was granted his release by the Twins on Monday, per Craig Calcaterra of Hardball Talk, and Murphy had all but made up his mind to retire at that point.

“I think I’m done playing,” Murphy told Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press on Monday evening. “It was definitely a tough decision, but it wasn’t an emotional decision I made over a few minutes or even an hour. A lot of time went into it, and I know I made the right decision.”

The outfielder spent the majority of his career with the Rangers, staying with the organization for seven years and hitting .275 with 85 home runs and 362 RBI. 

He was at his best in the 2011 postseason, when he hit .351 with five runs scored, three RBI and a stolen base as the team reached the World Series, and he was a big part of the teams that made consecutive runs (2010-11) to the Fall Classic.

You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter.

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Major League Baseball has suspended Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Chris Colabello for failing a performance-enhancing-drug test.

MLB announced Colabello’s 80-game suspension Friday. Blue Jays radio announcer Mike Wilner reported Colabello tested positive for a PED known as dehydrochlormethyltestosterone.

Colabello issued a statement shortly after the announcement, per Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star:

Toronto general manager Ross Atkins also provided a statement, per SportsCentre:

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons told reporters how he found out about Colabello’s suspension and spoke about the team’s subsequent moves, per Hazel Mae of Sportsnet Connected:

Per Mae, Gibbons also addressed his relationship with Colabello:

Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Pillar came to Colabello’s defense, saying, “He’s not a cheater. He got caught up in a flawed system,” per Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun.

Colabello’s breakout 2015 was one of the feel-good stories in MLB. He spent seven seasons in the independent leagues from 2005 to 2011 before signing with the Minnesota Twins in 2012. His MLB debut came in 2013, though he hit just .214/.284/.364 in 114 games over his first two seasons.

Colabello was one of MLB’s biggest surprises in 2015, playing an integral role in the Blue Jays’ first division title and playoff appearance in 22 years. He hit .321/.367/.520 with 19 doubles and 15 home runs in 101 games.

This year, however, has not gone well for the 32-year-old, who is hitting a paltry .069/.156/.069 with two singles and nine strikeouts in 29 at-bats.

Moving forward, the Blue Jays have Justin Smoak and Edwin Encarnacion ready to play first base. Encarnacion is the superior hitter, though Gibbons could keep him at designated hitter and use Smoak’s superior glove in the field to get by until Colabello returns.

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Veteran pitcher Justin Masterson agreed to a minor league deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported. Adam Berry of MLB.com later confirmed the news.  

Masterson spent last season with the Boston Red Sox, posting a 4-2 record with a 5.61 ERA as both a starter and reliever.

In his previous seven years, Masterson was a full-time starter who struggled to be a productive arm in the lower parts of rotations.

His ERA was at least 4.50 or higher in seven of his eight years in the league, including a 2014 that saw him post a 5.88 mark.

Masterson did have a flash-in-the-pan All-Star season in 2013 with the Cleveland Indians in which he went 14-10 with a 3.45 ERA and three shutouts, which led the league. 

If he has a set spot in a rotation, Masterson is capable of eating some innings as a best-case scenario, which is valuable in fourth or fifth starters. The Pirates could be looking for some help there too, especially after the Detroit Tigers hammered starter Juan Nicasio on Tuesday. 

Nicasio threw 94 pitches to get through three innings, allowing four runs and five walks. Of the 19 batters he faced, 11 reached base. 

It’s just one start, though, so there’s always room for improvement. 

Given Masterson’s past in which he’s had problems keeping his ERA down, don’t expect Pittsburgh to rely too heavily on him if it does call him up to the big leagues, as the Pirates are in a National League Central that features dangerous offensive teams like the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs. 

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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Atlanta Braves outfielder Hector Olivera was arrested in Arlington, Virginia, early Wednesday morning due to his alleged involvement in a domestic dispute.

According to Jeff Goldberg of ABC7 in Washington, D.C., the 31-year-old native of Cuba was arrested at the Ritz-Carlton after a woman called 911 and said she had been assaulted.

Goldberg reported Olivera has been charged with one count of misdemeanor assault and battery. Goldberg later reported Olivera posted $10,000 bond and left for the airport.

According to Goldberg, police sources said the woman and Olivera know each other and that the woman had bruises upon the arrival of officers. Goldberg reported the victim remains in the hospital and that her condition could have been a factor in determining Olivera‘s charges.

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports provided Olivera’s mugshot:

Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post spoke to an MLB spokesman, who said Olivera has been placed on administrative leave and that the commissioner’s office has begun an investigation into the incident.

The Braves released a statement on Olivera‘s situation:

The former Los Angeles Dodgers signee was traded to the Braves last season as part of a deal that sent pitchers Alex Wood and Jim Johnson to L.A.

Olivera appeared in 24 games for the Braves in 2015 and is hitting .211 with two RBI in six contests so far this season.

He is the starting left fielder for a Braves team that is off to an 0-7 start and figures to challenge for the worst record in Major League Baseball.

Losing Olivera for any period of time would further test the depth of an already thin Braves team.

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Domestic abuse charges against Colorado Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes were reportedly dropped Monday, according to the Associated Press.

The AP noted the judge in Hawaii gave prosecutors two years to potentially refile the charges if Reyes’ wife cooperates. Deputy Maui Prosecuting Attorney Kerry Glen “says it’s impossible to move forward with prosecution without cooperation from Reyes’ wife, who refuses to speak with prosecutors,” per the AP.

Reyes was arrested at the Wailea Four Seasons in Maui, Hawaii, on Oct. 31 and was released on $1,000 bail. However, the AP noted the bail will be refunded because the charge was dropped.

In November, Chelsea Davis of Hawaii News Now reported Reyes’ wife told the police the shortstop grabbed her throat and shoved her into a glass balcony door during the incident.

According to Nick Martin of the Washington Post, the indefinite suspension (with pay) that Major League Baseball levied against Reyes just before spring training “is still in place for the time being” even though the charges were dropped.

This comes after Rockies owner Dick Monfort met with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred on Thursday and did not get a timetable for a decision regarding Reyes’ status, per the AP (h/t ESPN.com).

Monfort did say if Reyes “did something wrong, he should pay for it,” per the AP (h/t ESPN.com), and wasn’t sure if the response and potential backlash from fans would influence any decisions regarding Reyes’ future.

MLB suspended Reyes under its new domestic abuse policy. New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman also received a 30-game suspension without pay, starting on Opening Day, under the same policy.

Reyes, a four-time All-Star, came to the Rockies from the Toronto Blue Jays as part of a trade that sent Troy Tulowitzki north of the border during the 2015 season. During Reyes’ absence, rookie Trevor Story has filled in at shortstop for the Rockies and proceeded to become the first player in MLB history to hit a home run in the first three games of his career.

Reyes hit .274 with seven home runs, 53 RBI and 24 stolen bases last season for the Rockies and Blue Jays.

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The San Diego Padres are finally on the board in 2016.

Jon Jay hit an RBI single in the top of the fourth inning during Friday’s game against the Colorado Rockies, ending San Diego’s scoreless streak of 30 innings to begin the season, an MLB record, per ESPN Stats & Info.

That was the first of a six-run inning for the Padres.

The Padres’ rough start was not only evident at the plate but also on the mound.

The Los Angeles Dodgers swept them at Petco Park, and San Diego allowed 25 runs in those three games. The Padres only mustered 11 hits. Through four innings Friday, San Diego had recorded nine hits.

Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune thinks it’s time for the Padres to focus on more important things:

Sports on Earth felt it was appropriate to celebrate a monumental occasion at Coors Field:

While the Padres pitching staff has not been up to par, the biggest problem for San Diego was the lack of production it was getting from the No. 2 through 4 hitters in the lineup. Those who started in those slots batted a combined 5-for-33 against the Dodgers. Star slugger Matt Kemp recorded two of those hits in the series finale Wednesday but went 2-for-10 overall.

It took three-plus games for the Padres offense to finally come to life, but it wasn’t due to a shortage of talent. San Diego has talent in the middle of the lineup with Kemp and Wil Myers, and Jay has had a solid start to the season at the top of the order.

San Diego has plenty of time to turn it around, but now the test will be sustaining consistent offensive success.

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First baseman James Loney agreed to sign a minor league contract with the San Diego Padres on Thursday, sources told MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. ESPN’s Buster Olney confirmed the news.

The Tampa Bay Rays released Loney on Sunday after he had spent three years with the team.

Loney hasn’t provided much power at first base, which traditionally supplies pop in MLB lineups. In the past four years, he’s hit double-digit home runs just once.

The Rays were not satisfied with Loney’s performance and created a logjam at the position in the offseason, bringing in Logan Morrison and Steve Pearce, two more first basemen. Those acquisitions made Loney expendable.

San Diego, on the other hand, is in need of some help at first base, as Wil Myers, a natural outfielder, has been the team’s starter. As Olney pointed out, Loney’s signing can eventually return Myers to the outfield, where he can back up Matt Kemp, Jon Jay or Melvin Upton Jr.

Through the first three games of the season, Myers has just two hits in 11 at-bats, but that doesn’t mean much given his entire team’s struggles. San Diego did not score a single run in its opening three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who recorded 25 runs. 

Loney, who has a .285 career batting average, could inject some offense into San Diego’s anemic lineup if he does join the big league club.

A change of scenery to the West Coast could be beneficial. Loney spent seven-plus seasons with the Dodgers, hitting .284 with 71 home runs and 451 RBI during the most productive years of his career.

But his numbers over the last few years don’t suggest he’ll be able to kick San Diego’s struggling offense into gear.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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Edinson Volquez threw six scoreless innings, and the Kansas City Royals held off a late rally by the New York Mets in a World Series rematch to win 4-3 at Kauffman Stadium on Sunday.

Four different Royals knocked in runs as the team defended its championship in style on Opening Day. However, the victory came with some drama, as closer Wade Davis put runners on first and third before striking out David Wright and Yoenis Cespedes to end the game.

Kansas City celebrated its first win of the season on Twitter:

When MLB released the 2016 schedule in September, no one could have imagined the coincidence that would occur Sunday, when the two teams that played in the previous year’s World Series matched up on Opening Day for the first time.

Unfortunately for the Mets, they had to watch the Royals raise their first World Series banner since 1985 after falling 4-1 in last year’s Fall Classic.

The pregame scene was surreal for a team that didn’t qualify for the playoffs from 1986 through 2013.

Damon Amendolara of CBS Sports Radio couldn’t believe what he was seeing: 

As great as the festivities were for the Royals, Sunday marked the beginning of a new season. Once the umpire called Volquez’s first pitch to Curtis Granderson a strike, the Royals officially had begun their quest to repeat as World Series champions.

They got off to a fast start, as first baseman Eric Hosmer singled home Mike Moustakas in the bottom of the first inning to give Kansas City a 1-0 lead. ESPN.com’s Buster Olney shared his thoughts on the first run, which followed a Cespedes error:

Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News took a shot at Cespedes, who failed to make a play in Game 1 of the World Series, leading to an Alcides Escobar inside-the-park home run:

Although it was a tough first inning for Mets starter Matt Harvey, he didn’t allow a hit after Hosmer’s RBI single until the fourth inning, when center fielder Lorenzo Cain hit a leadoff single. The Royals eventually pushed across a run on a Kendrys Morales sacrifice fly to seize a 2-0 lead.

Kansas City led 3-0 in the sixth after a two-out RBI single by left fielder Alex Gordon. When catcher Salvador Perez followed with a single, the Mets pulled Harvey from the game.

Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star fired off a tweet after the Mets pulled Harvey, seemingly referencing a bladder infection earlier in the week that nearly caused Harvey to miss his start:

Second baseman Omar Infante added an RBI single off Bartolo Colon for the team’s final run, which was charged to Harvey.

Harvey, who failed to defeat the Royals for the second straight time, was decent at best—5.2 innings, eight hits, four runs, three earned—but he wasn’t nearly good enough opposite Volquez, per the Royals:

The Royals bullpen does not usually blow leads, but Joakim Soria came on to start the eighth and didn’t leave until he allowed three runs on three hits and two walks in just two-thirds of an inning.

Henry Lake of Kansas City’s 610 Sports Radio tweeted what every Royals fan must have been thinking after the 4-0 lead was suddenly 4-3:

Setup man Luke Hochevar, who came in with runners on second and third, struck out Asdrubal Cabrera to restore order.

The Royals then turned to Davis, who has allowed 15 earned runs in 139.1 innings over the past two seasons, to end the game.

Six of the nine Royals regulars finished with at least one hit, while Hosmer led the way with a 3-for-4 performance. Michael Conforto was 2-for-2 for the Mets, and Lucas Duda had a game-high two RBI.

It’s a long season, but the Royals proved to be formidable defending champions with an all-around strong performance Sunday, aside from the eighth inning. They didn’t hit a home run but constantly put the ball in play, striking out only three times and batting .300.

The teams will finish off their two-game series Tuesday night in Kansas City, with Chris Young of the Royals taking the mound against Noah Syndergaard of the Mets.

Postgame Reaction

Volquez, who was the starting pitcher in Games 1 and 5 of last year’s World Series, continued his solid pitching on the big stage.

One would think the 32-year-old would relish the chance to pitch on Opening Day, but that wasn’t the case, according to the Associated Press (via ESPN.com).

“I like to enjoy the show,” Volquez said. “Enjoy the time. … I did the best I could.”

His best was certainly good, as was the rest of his team.

“They’re scrappy,” Wright said, per the AP. “We knew that they put the ball in play, they find holes, put together terrific at-bats. They get that lead early and you know the bullpen is coming in. That’s their M.O.—good starting pitching, terrific bullpen and a pesky offense. That’s exactly what they did tonight.”

The Royals were all business during the game, but they like to have fun afterward. Perez nailed Hosmer with his signature “Salvy Splash” while the latter was taking part in an interview on the field, via the Royals:

While the Kansas City fans may have thought it was great to draw a rematch with the Mets, Royals manager Ned Yost wasn’t a big fan, per the AP.

“It was just strange, the pregame ceremony. I think I would have enjoyed it more if we played another team,” Yost said. “For them to relive that, it’s a little awkward.”

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