A month after acknowledging he made “mistakes,” Ryan Braun admitted taking performance-enhancing drugs during his NL MVP season of 2011.
The suspended Milwaukee slugger said in a statement released Thursday by the Brewers that he took a cream and a lozenge containing banned substances while rehabilitating an injury.
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“It was a huge mistake for which I am deeply ashamed and I compounded the situation by not admitting my mistakes immediately,” Braun said.
Braun tested positive for elevated testosterone in October 2011, but his 50-game suspension was overturned when an arbitrator ruled that the urine sample was mishandled.
Last month, Braun accepted a 65-game suspension resulting from Major League Baseball’s investigation of the Biogenesis of America anti-aging clinic.
In his statement, Braun apologized to the collector of the urine sample — whom he had earlier accused of possible tampering — his teammates and Commissioner Bud Selig.
“I have no one to blame but myself. I know that over the last year and a half I made some serious mistakes, both in the information I failed to share during my arbitration hearing and the comments I made to the press afterwards,” Braun said.
“I have disappointed the people closest to me — the ones who fought for me because they truly believed me all along. I kept the truth from everyone. For a long time, I was in denial and convinced myself that I had not done anything wrong.”
In his lengthy statement, Braun also said: “When it comes to both my actions and my words, I made some very serious mistakes and I can only ask for the forgiveness of everyone I let down. I will never make the same errors again and I intend to share the lessons I learned with others so they don’t repeat my mistakes. Moving forward, I want to be part of the solution and no longer part of the problem.”
METS: New York signed Daisuke Matsuzaka to a one-year contract, and the right-hander is scheduled to start Friday against Detroit.
Matsuzaka was released by Cleveland on Tuesday at his request.
This will be Matsuzaka’s first major league appearance since he went 1-7 with an 8.28 ERA in 11 starts for Boston last year.
RAYS: Delmon Young is returning to Tampa Bay on a minor league deal after the Rays selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 draft.
The club said the 27-year-old outfielder/designated hitter will report to Double-A Montgomery. Young began the season with the Philadelphia Phillies after helping Detroit reach the World Series last year, winning the AL championship series MVP award with the Tigers.
Young batted .261 with eight homers and 31 RBI in 80 games before being released by the Phillies this month.
YANKEES: New York recalled reliever Preston Claiborne from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to replace injured infielder Jayson Nix who went on the 15-day disabled list with a broken left hand after he was hit by a pitch from Toronto’s R.A. Dickey the night before.
New York Manager Joe Girardi said he expects Nix to miss the rest of the season.
BRAVES: Right-hander Brandon Beachy (2-1, 4.50 ERA )will miss his next start due to elbow soreness sustained Tuesday night in a game against the New York Mets.
He was making his fifth start since returning from Tommy John surgery.
GIANTS: Outfielder Andres Torres has been placed on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained left Achilles’ tendon and might not return this season.
WHITE SOX: Paul Konerko was scratched from the starting lineup of Thursday night’s game against the Kansas City Royals after complaining of light-headedness.
BLUE JAYS: Toronto placed infielder Maicer Izturis on the 15-day disabled list and recalled shortstop Ryan Goins from Triple-A Buffalo. Izturis is batting .236 with five home runs and 32 RBI in 107 games with Toronto this season.
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