OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Former Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon of the Oakland Athletics was suspended for 50 games Wednesday after a positive test, joining San Francisco Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera on the suspended list for the rest of the regular season.
Major League Baseball made the announcement of Colon's penalty a week after All-Star game MVP Cabrera received his 50-game suspension
''I apologize to the fans, to my teammates and to the Oakland A's,'' Colon said in a statement released by the players' association. ''I accept responsibility for my actions and I will serve my suspension as required by the joint drug program.''
He will miss the final 40 games of the regular season and the first 10 games of the postseason if Oakland advances that far. Any remainder of the suspension would be served in a future season, if Colon signs another major league contract.
CHICAGO (AP) - Derek Jeter brushed off comments by ESPN analyst Skip Bayless that the star shortstop may have revived his career by taking human growth hormone.
Bayless made his comments on ''First Take'' on the same day that former Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon became the second big league player in a week suspended for 50 games following a positive drug test.
The 38-year-old Jeter leads the major leagues with 169 hits and is batting .324 with 13 homers, his best statistics since winning his fifth World Series ring with the Yankees in 2009.
''You would have to have your head in the sand or your head somewhere else not to at least wonder, 'How is he doing this?''' Bayless said Wednesday.
Jeter responded before the Yankees' 2-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox, saying: ''One of the things is that now you have everybody questioning everything. That's the unfortunate thing. Maybe Skip should be tested.''
WASHINGTON (AP) - Nationals manager Davey Johnson says Stephen Strasburg could miss his final two or three turns in the rotation during the regular season.
In his first full season following elbow ligament replacement surgery, Strasburg is 15-5 with a 2.85 ERA and a National League-leading 183 strikeouts. The 24-year-old right-hander has thrown 145 1-3 innings, and the Nationals are thought to have given him a limit of 160-180.
Washington began the day with a seven-game lead in the NL East, putting the city on track for postseason play for the first time since 1933.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Adrian Beltre hit three home runs in his first three at-bats against the Baltimore Orioles, including two in the Texas Rangers' nine-run fourth inning.
NEW YORK (AP) - The New York Mets placed Johann Santana on the 15-day disabled list with inflammation in his lower back and said he is not expected to pitch again in 2012.
Doctors recommended rest, but not surgery.
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A New Jersey teenager left brain-damaged after being struck by a line drive off a metal bat while he was playing in a youth baseball game will receive $14.5 million to settle his lawsuit against the bat manufacturer, Little League Baseball and a sporting goods chain.
The settlement of Steven Domalewski's lawsuit was announced in state Superior Court in Passaic County. The boy, now 18, lives in Wayne, N.J. His family had claimed the metal bat was unsafe because baseballs could carom off it at much faster speeds than wooden bats.
PRO FOOTBALL
METAIRIE, La. (AP) - The New Orleans Saints designated offensive line coach Aaron Kromer as the interim head coach for the first six regular-season games, when assistant head coach Joe Vitt will have to serve his suspension in connection with the NFL's bounty investigation.
Vitt has been overseeing head coaching duties since Sean Payton's full season suspension began in mid-April, but the Saints held off until Wednesday on a decision concerning who would become the figurehead of the coaching staff when Vitt has to step aside in Week 1.
The 45-year-old Kromer is in his fifth season with the Saints and also serves as running game coordinator.
BEREA, Ohio (AP) - Joe Haden's training camp ended before any of his Browns teammates were finished.
Arguably Cleveland's best defensive player, Haden was kicked off the practice field by coach Pat Shurmur, who felt the cornerback was being too physical with rookie wide receiver Travis Benjamin during a passing drill on the final day of workouts open to fans.
Haden was ordered to leave roughly an hour into the practice by an angry Shurmur, who declined to provide details of the incident during his news conference.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Ousted Penn State president Graham Spanier and his lawyers attacked a university-backed report on the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal, calling it a ''blundering and indefensible indictment'' as they fired a pre-emptive strike while waiting to hear if he'll be charged in the case.
Lawyer Timothy Lewis called Louis Freeh, the former FBI director and federal judge behind the report, a ''biased investigator'' who piled speculation on top of innuendo to accuse Spanier in a cover-up of early abuse complaints.
Spanier did not attend. But he told media outlets in stories published hours later that he never understood the early complaints about Sandusky, who this year was convicted of molesting 10 boys, to be sexual.
MANKATO, Minn. (AP) - The football coach at Minnesota State, Mankato, was charged with two counts related to child pornography after authorities said they found nude images of children on his cellphone.
Todd Hoffner, 46, of Eagle Lake, was charged with one count of using minors in a sexual performance or pornographic work, and one count of possessing child pornography. Both are felonies.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A judge ordered former University of North Carolina football coach Butch Davis to hand over records of calls made on his personal cellphone related to his job duties.
Superior Court Judge Howard E. Manning Jr. signed an order for Davis to provide his phone bills, which had been requested as public records by media organizations including The Associated Press. Those requests had been rejected for more than a year by the university, which has faced NCAA sanctions related to violations involving the football team while Davis was coach.
TENNIS
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - Defending champion John Isner overcame two rain delays to advance in straight sets at the Winston-Salem Open, while Andy Roddick was eliminated.
The third-seeded Isner, ranked 10th in the world, beat 13th-seeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-4, 6-3 in the third round.
The fifth-seeded Roddick, a former world No. 1 player now ranked 21st, fell to 81st-ranked Steve Darcis of Belgium 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-3), in the final hard-court tournament before the U.S. Open next week in New York.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - Second-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic moved into the quarterfinals of the New Haven Open with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over NCAA champion Nicole Gibbs.
The 2011 Wimbledon champion, the only Grand Slam winner in the New Haven field, is coming off a title in Montreal, her first ever in North America, and a run to the semifinals in Cincinnati.
Earlier, four-time defending champion Caroline Wozniacki improved her record in New Haven to 19-0, beating Sofia Arvidsson 7-6 (4), 6-2.
GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) - Second-seeded Jelena Jankovic advanced to the Texas Open semifinals, beating eighth-seeded Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-1 in the hard-court tournament.
PRO HOCKEY
TORONTO (AP) - NHL collective bargaining talks were canceled after top executives from the league and players' union held an impromptu morning meeting to discuss the status of the negotiations.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly spent about two hours with players' association executive director Donald Fehr and his brother Steve Fehr, the union's No. 2 man.
The current agreement is set to expire Sept. 15, when the NHL says it will lock out the players if a new deal hasn't been reached.
LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) - Tennessee scratched out two late runs to get to the U.S. final in the Little League World Series.
Cole Carter had an RBI single after Jake Rucker scored the tying run from second on a throwing error to give the boys from Goodlettsville, Tenn., a 4-3 victory over San Antonio and a berth in the U.S championship game Saturday.
Texas must now play an elimination game Thursday night against Petaluma, Calif. Tennessee can rest up until Saturday, when it will face the winner of the elimination game.
In the international bracket, Japan played textbook baseball in a 4-1 victory over Panama.
AUTO RACING
BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) - Timothy Peters won the NASCAR Trucks Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, leading all 204 laps for his second victory of the season and fifth overall.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - NASCAR fined Paul Menard's crew chief $100,000 for illegal modifications found on the Chevrolet last weekend at Michigan.
Slugger Labbe also was suspended until Oct. 3.
