The Oakland A's Bartolo Colon becomes the second player in a week to fail a doping test.
Major League Baseball said Colon is suspended 50 games because he tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone. It was the same thing that got the Giants' Melky Cabrera suspended last week.
"I apologize to the fans, to my teammates and to the Oakland A's," Colon said in a statement issued by the MLB Players Association and posted on MLB.com. "I accept responsibility for my actions and I will serve my suspension as required by the Joint Drug Program."
The San Francisco Chronicle reports:
"The A's were 1/2 game behind the Orioles and Rays in the American League wild card race going into Wednesday's game. ...
"'It's a shock,' A's reliever Grant Balfour said. 'He's a guy that we're definitely relying on right now. I guess you could say it's bad timing any time, but especially now.'"
Up until now, Colon was having a stellar season, arguably one of his best. He was 10-9 with a 3.48 ERA. His lifetime ERA is 4.05. The last time he had that good and ERA was in 2005, when he went 21-8 with a 3.48 ERA.
CBS Sports notes Colon is the fifth player this season to receive a suspension under baseball's drug program.
"The first four were Giants reliever Guillermo Mota, Phillies second baseman Freddy Galvis, former Cubs/Red Sox outfielder Marlon Byrd and Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera," CBS Sports reports.
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