Tejada apologizes after obscene gesture

Baltimore Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada apologized Thursday for making what appeared to be an obscene gesture toward the stands during Wednesday’s game in Toronto.

Tejada made a gesture after swinging through a pitch in the dirt from B.J. Ryan and being thrown out at first in the eighth inning. The Orioles lost 4-3.

“I want to apologize to everyone, especially to the Orioles fans and the fans in Toronto, for my action in Wednesday’s game,” Tejada said in a statement posted on the Orioles’ Web site. “I was frustrated and should not have let things get to me. I am sorry and hope people will accept that and know that is not the kind of person I am.”

Mike Flanagan, Orioles executive vice president for baseball operations, said, “We don’t condone what Miguel Tejada did. His actions certainly are out of character with the player and person we know him to be. The situation is being handled internally and neither the Orioles organization nor Miguel will comment further on the matter.”

Pavano logs rehab start

New York Yankees pitcher Carl Pavano threw 2 2/3 innings in his first minor league rehabilitation start since surgery in May for a bone chip above his right elbow.

Pitching for Class A Tampa (Fla.) against the Daytona Cubs, Pavano allowed three runs, five hits, one intentional walk, striking out one. The right-hander has not pitched in the major leagues since June 27, 2005.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” said Pavano, who threw 28 of 42 pitches for strikes. “I felt like today I probably could have thrown more. I’m excited to get out there again on Tuesday.”

Police say heroin involved

Former Florida Marlins first-round draft pick Jeff Allison was hospitalized after a friend found him unconscious on a bathroom floor in Medford, Mass., surrounded by what police said was heroin paraphernalia.

A police report cited heroin injection as the cause for the 21-year-old right-hander’s condition. Allison was found Monday with a bag with heroin paraphernalia on the floor of the bathroom, the Boston Globe reported.

Allison was taken with the 16th overall pick in the 2003 amateur draft and signed for $1.85 million after going 9-0 with a perfect ERA in his senior year at Peabody High School.

He pitched in three games for the Marlins’ Gulf Coast League rookie team in August 2003. But he left spring training without permission the next year and missed all the ‘04 season because of an addiction to OxyContin, a failed drug test for marijuana and a heroin overdose.

McDowell keeps brave face

Roger McDowell came to Atlanta with a reputation for having a good sense of humor.

He has needed it in his first season as a major league pitching coach.

With left-hander Horacio Ramirez the latest in a long line of Braves injured pitchers, McDowell has been left with only two constants – John Smoltz and Tim Hudson – in a patchwork starting rotation.

McDowell didn’t think he’d have to spend much of the season looking for starters. At the end of spring training, the main problem was trying to narrow the list of six starting candidates down to five. The temporary answer had John Thomson opening the season in the bullpen, but that changed when Ramirez went on the disabled list for the first of three times.

Thomson has missed 40 games with two trips to the disabled list. Kyle Davies has been out since May with a torn groin muscle. Chuck James missed 30 games with a hamstring injury. Mike Hampton has been out all season recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Through it all, McDowell has tried to remain positive. He said he can’t complain about having to get by with a patchwork rotation.

“It’s all I know,” he said. “It’s the norm, because obviously this being my first year as a pitching coach in the major leagues, it’s all I’ve seen.”