Cabrera associate tried to fabricate defense
An associate of San Francisco Giants All-Star Melky Cabrera purchased a website and attempted to create evidence to support a claim that the outfielder inadvertently took the substance that caused a positive drug test, Major League Baseball said.
Baseball officials uncovered the scheme as Cabrera prepared his case to challenge the test. Cabrera's grievance then was dropped, and MLB announced a 50-game suspension Wednesday.
The New York Daily News first reported on the scheme Sunday.
A team of six-to-seven investigators from MLB spent several weeks working to uncover the plan, a baseball official familiar with the probe told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because MLB didn't authorize anyone to discuss the matter publicly.
It's the first such case MLB has had and officials hope that uncovering the scheme will discourage similar attempts.
The person said baseball had referred the case to federal investigators.
A second baseball official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said additional discipline against Cabrera was unlikely.
Cabrera, MVP of the All-Star game last month, tested positive for testosterone, MLB said.
The person said Juan Nunez, who works with Cabrera's agents, purchased an existing website and attempted to alter it in a manner that would allow Cabrera to claim the positive test was caused by a substance obtained through the website. The News reported Nunez paid $10,000 for the website.
* AMERICAN LEAGUE
Rays 8, Angels 3: At Anaheim, Calif., Matt Moore shrugged off home runs by Mike Trout and Albert Pujols to win his fourth straight decision, and Tampa Bay completed a four-game sweep of fading Los Angeles. The Angels lost for the 13th time in 18 games.
Athletics 7, Indians 0: Jarrod Parker pitched eight sharp innings while Coco Crisp homered and drove in five runs, leading Oakland over visiting Cleveland for a three-game sweep.
Orioles 7, Tigers 5: Nate McLouth hit a go-ahead, two-run triple and Baltimore rallied at Detroit
Royals 5, White Sox 2: Jeremy Guthrie flirted with a no-hitter, Salvador Perez drove in three runs and Kansas City completed a three-game series sweep of AL Central-leading Chicago.
Rangers 11, Blue Jays 2: Michael Young hit a three-run homer and a two-run double to power Texas at Toronto.
Yankees 4, Red Sox 1: Ichiro Suzuki homered twice and Hiroki Kuroda pitched eight innings of four-hit ball to lead New York past visiting Boston.
Derek Jeter had three hits and scored twice for the Yankees, who took two of three from Boston despite playing the entire series without slugger Mark Teixeira.
* NATIONAL LEAGUE
Pittsburgh 6, St. Louis 3: Pedro Alvarez homered in the 19th inning and Pittsburgh won the longest game in the majors this season, outlasting host St. Louis.
About 9,000 fans from the original crowd of more than 43,000 stayed until the end. This was the longest game by innings in the big leagues this year. At 6:07, it tied for the longest by time, matching a game between Baltimore and Boston on May 6.
Diamondbacks 8, Astros 1: Houston lost in its first game under interim manager Tony DeFrancesco as Aaron Hill homered twice to give visiting Arizona a win and a sweep.
DeFrancesco was the manager at Triple-A Oklahoma City before being promoted. The Astros, with the worst record in the majors, fired Brad Mills late Saturday night.
Nationals 5, Mets 2: Bryce Harper homered and tripled, and Danny Espinosa also homered to lift Washington over visiting New York.
Dodgers 5, Braves 0: Chad Billingsley combined with two relievers on a three-hitter to win his sixth straight start, Luis Cruz homered for the second game in a row and Los Angeles won at Atlanta.
Reds 5, Cubs 4: Xavier Paul led off the ninth inning with a pinch-hit triple and Ryan Hanigan followed with a single, lifting Cincinnati over visiting Chicago.
Padres 7, Giants 1: Clayton Richard pitched eight sparkling innings, Cameron Maybin drove in three runs and host San Diego snapped a five-game losing streak by beating San Francisco.
Rockies 3, Marlins 2: At Denver, Jordan Pacheco homered among his three hits as banged-up Colorado slowed down Giancarlo Stanton and beat Miami.
Phillies 8, Brewers 0: Kyle Kendrick pitched three-hit ball for eight innings and visiting Philadelphia beat Milwaukee after waiting out a rare rain delay at Miller Park.
The game was held up for 7 minutes when showers popped up in the first inning with the retractable roof still open. It takes about 10 minutes for the roof to fully shut, and the game was delayed with the Brewers batting in the bottom half when the rain became harder. Most of the Phillies stayed on the field.