MLB roundup: Byrd suspended 50 games for positive drug test

Free agent outfielder Marlon Byrd was suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball for testing positive for an estrogen-blocking drug, tamoxifen, which is used to minimize side effects typical in steroid use. Tamoxifen is one of 200 substances on the banned substance list and is not a performance-enhancing drug. The unsigned Byrd will remain on the restricted list for the next 50 games. He was traded by the Chicago Cubs to the Boston Red Sox in April for right-handed pitcher Michael Bowden. Byrd's 2012 season salary of $6 million is being paid mostly by the Cubs. --Anthony Rizzo, the top prospect for the Chicago Cubs, will be in the lineup against the Mets on Tuesday. Rizzo won't officially be promoted until Tuesday. The Chicago Tribune reported Rizzo was removed from the Iowa Cubs' Monday game in the fourth inning and will arrive in Chicago later Monday. The slugging first baseman was hitting .345 with 23 home runs, 62 RBIs and 18 doubles in 69 games entering play Monday. --The Twins placed closer Matt Capps on the 15-day disabled list with inflammation in his right shoulder. The move is retroactive to June 24, and Capps' spot on the 25-man roster was filled by left-handed reliever Tyler Robertson. In 33 relief appearances for Triple-A Rochester, Robertson went 2-2 with two saves and a 3.77 ERA with 33 strikeouts. --Catcher Erik Kratz was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to replace Brian Schneider on the Phillies roster. Schneider was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained ankle. --The Indians recalled left-handed pitcher Scott Barnes from Triple-A Columbus to replace right-hander Jeanmar Gomez. Gomez, 4-7 with a 5.18 ERA, made the team in spring training and had been on the 25-man roster all season. Barnes, 24, was 0-2 with a 3.73 ERA at Columbus. ---Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton has four days left to set a record for the most votes for the All-Star Game, and he's likely to do it. In the voting update released Monday, Hamilton has 7,310,824 votes. The record for the most votes was set last year by Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista, who received 7,454,753 votes. Voting ends Thursday at 11:59 p.m. ET, and Hamilton needs just 143,929 votes for the record. He received about 1.9 million votes in the past week. Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano passed Texas' Ian Kinsler as the top vote-getter at second base, but that margin is small -- 3,559,290 votes for Cano to 3,462,367 for Kinsler, a margin of less than 97,000. ----The San Diego Padres have claimed right-handed pitcher Mark Hamburger off waivers from the Texas Rangers, and they sent him Triple-A Tucson. The team also transferred outfielder Jeremy Hermida to the 60-day disabled list with a strained left adductor. Hamburger, 25, has made 21 appearances (three starts) for Triple-A Round Rock this season, going 0-2 with a 6.55 ERA. --- Major-league baseball attendance is up over last year, and there is a chance it could break the attendance record set in 2007. Thanks to high attendance numbers during interleague play, overall attendance at the start of this week was 33,486,813, an average of 31,064 fans per game. Attendance is running 8.1 percent ahead of the total through the same number of dates in the 2011 season and slightly behind 2007, when the single-season record of 79,502,524 was set. The average attendance of 32,785 in 2007 was also a record.

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MLB roundup: Byrd suspended 50 games for positive drug test