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Pirates OF Tommy Pham serves 1-game suspension; Cruz still out but Kiner-Falefa returns

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Pirates OF Tommy Pham serves 1-game suspension; Cruz still out but Kiner-Falefa returns
News

News

Pirates OF Tommy Pham serves 1-game suspension; Cruz still out but Kiner-Falefa returns

2025-05-13 11:38 Last Updated At:11:41

NEW YORK (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Tommy Pham served a one-game suspension Monday night against the New York Mets for conduct directed at Los Angeles Angels fans last month.

Pham was disciplined by Major League Baseball and fined an undisclosed amount on April 25 for “inappropriate actions toward” Angels fans during a game two days earlier. The penalty was upheld after his appeal went to a hearing, a Pirates spokesman said Monday.

The 37-year-old Pham reportedly made an obscene gesture to a fan who touched him while he was tracking down a ball in the left-field corner during a 3-0 win over the Angels.

The 12-year veteran is batting .176 with no homers, six RBIs and a .475 OPS in 34 games during his first season with the Pirates.

Pham, who played 79 games for the Mets in 2023, is a .331 career hitter with 10 home runs in 169 at-bats and 55 games at Citi Field.

In other news, Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz sat out for the second consecutive game after leaving Saturday's 11-inning loss to Atlanta with lower back tightness.

“He's getting better. He's day to day. We'll see what his availability is tonight,” manager Don Kelly said before the game.

Alexander Canario, acquired from the Mets for cash on March 31, started in center again.

Pittsburgh also reinstated shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the 10-day injured list. He batted sixth and had an eventful evening during a 4-3 loss to the Mets.

His first time up, Kiner-Falefa led off the second inning with his first home run since Aug. 17. He had been sidelined since May 1 with a right hamstring strain.

“You guys see it every time he's out there — the energy he brings, the defense, the contact ability, the way he can hit," Kelly said prior to the game. "He can do a lot of different things. He's a leader on the field for us, and it's good to have him back out there at short.”

Kiner-Falefa started two double plays that helped Pirates ace Paul Skenes out of jams. But the shortstop also committed a costly error on Francisco Lindor's grounder up the middle in the ninth, leading to the winning run against reliever David Bednar.

“If it doesn’t hit the base, I make that play easily,” Kiner-Falefa said. “I just felt bad because it cost Bednar the loss. So that was obviously tough for me. But it hit the base there. Nothing I could have done about it.”

The 30-year-old Kiner-Falefa began the night batting .280 with seven RBIs and a .663 OPS in 30 games this season.

In a corresponding move, infielder Liover Peguero was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis following Sunday's 4-3 win over the Braves.

Peguero went 2 for 9 in four games with Pittsburgh after being called up May 2 from Indianapolis.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Pittsburgh Pirates' Isiah Kiner-Falefa runs to home plate after hitting a home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Monday, May 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Isiah Kiner-Falefa runs to home plate after hitting a home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Monday, May 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz scores on a single by teammate Bryan Reynolds off San Diego Padres pitcher Dylan Cease during the third inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz scores on a single by teammate Bryan Reynolds off San Diego Padres pitcher Dylan Cease during the third inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bob Weir, guitarist, singer and founding member of the Grateful Dead, has died at age 78.

Weir's death was announced Saturday in a statement on his Instagram page.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Bobby Weir,” the statement said. “He transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could. Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues.”

Weir joined the Grateful Dead — originally the Warlocks — in 1965 in San Francisco at just 17 years old. He'd spend the next 30 years playing on endless tours with the Grateful Dead alongside fellow singer and guitarist Jerry Garcia, who died in 1995.

Weir wrote or co-wrote and sang lead vocals on Dead classics including “Sugar Magnolia,” “One More Saturday Night” and “Mexicali Blues.”

In the decades since he kept playing with other projects including Dead and Company.

“For over sixty years, Bobby took to the road,” the Instagram statement said. A guitarist, vocalist, storyteller, and founding member of the Grateful Dead. Bobby will forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music.”

Weir’s death leaves drummer Bill Kreutzmann as the only surviving original member. Founding bassist Phil Lesh died in 2024.

Dead and Company played a series of concert’s for the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary in July at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

Born in San Francisco and raised in nearby Atherton, Weir was the Dead's youngest member and looked like a fresh-faced high-schooler in its early years. He was generally less shaggy than the rest of the band, but had a long beard like Garcia’s in later years.

The band would survive long past the hippie moment of its birth, with its fans known as Deadheads often following them on the road in a virtually non-stop tour.

“Longevity was never a major concern of ours,” Weir said when the Dead got the Grammys' Musicares Person of the Year honor last year. “Spreading joy through the music was all we ever really had in mind and we got plenty of that done.”

FILE - Bob Weir plays guitar with his band The Dead, formerly the Grateful Dead, at the Forum in the Inglewood section of Los Angeles, Calif. on Saturday May 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel,File)

FILE - Bob Weir plays guitar with his band The Dead, formerly the Grateful Dead, at the Forum in the Inglewood section of Los Angeles, Calif. on Saturday May 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel,File)

FILE - This undated file photo shows members of the Grateful Dead band, from left to right, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh, Jerry Garcia, Brent Mydland, Bill Kreutzmann, and Bob Weir. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - This undated file photo shows members of the Grateful Dead band, from left to right, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh, Jerry Garcia, Brent Mydland, Bill Kreutzmann, and Bob Weir. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - Kennedy Center Honors recipients from left; filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, the legendary American rock band the Grateful Dead band members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann Bob Weir and blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Bonnie Raitt, applaud at at the 2024 Kennedy Center Honors reception in the East Room of the White House, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta,File)

FILE - Kennedy Center Honors recipients from left; filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, the legendary American rock band the Grateful Dead band members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann Bob Weir and blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Bonnie Raitt, applaud at at the 2024 Kennedy Center Honors reception in the East Room of the White House, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta,File)

FILE - Bob Weir arrives at Willie Nelson 90, celebrating the singer's 90th birthday on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. (Photo by Allison Dinner/Invision/AP,File)

FILE - Bob Weir arrives at Willie Nelson 90, celebrating the singer's 90th birthday on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. (Photo by Allison Dinner/Invision/AP,File)

FILE - Bob Weir of Dead & Company performs at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on Sunday, June 12, 2016, in Manchester, Tenn. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP,File)

FILE - Bob Weir of Dead & Company performs at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on Sunday, June 12, 2016, in Manchester, Tenn. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP,File)

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