Bartolo Colon suspended 50 games for positive test

Joseph R. Purita, an orthopedic surgeon in Florida, told The New York Times last year that he flew to Colon’s native Dominican Republic and helped a team of doctors there with the treatment on Colon. He said he has used Human Growth Hormone in the procedure before, but not in this case with the pitcher.

HGH is banned by Major League Baseball.

The Bay Area had already been shocked at the suspension of Cabrera.

“Two guys _ that’s why they’ve got the policy, I guess,” Balfour said. “The guy may be innocent. You just hope there’s some mistake there.”

The A’s did welcome back starting left-hander Brett Anderson in Tuesday night’s win over the Twins following a 14-month absence because of elbow ligament replacement surgery. Beane and Melvin feel especially fortunate to have him now.

Drug-testing labs check urine for its ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone, which usually is 1:1 in adult males. A 4:1 ratio is considered a positive test, but baseball officials said this week that even if there is a lower ratio, the lab conducts an isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) test if there is an abnormality. The IRMS test determines whether the testosterone is exogenous, or came from outside the body.

“I think the league is doing the best they can with it, and therefore the policy and program is catching people,” Melvin said. “I don’t know how much more you can do than that.”

There have been 76 suspensions this year under the minor league drug program.

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine wouldn’t address Colon’s suspension specifically, but did add, “I just wish we’d get that loss back he pitched against us.”

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AP Sports Writer Ronald Blum in New York and AP freelance Writer Ken Powtak in Boston contributed to this report.

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