Kansas City Royals pitcher Eric Skoglund broke down

SURPRISE Martin Maldonado Jersey , Ariz. (AP) —in tears Saturday, talking publicly for the first time since Major League Baseball gave him an 80-game suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs.Skoglund said he is bewildered about what triggered the positive results. The penalty was imposed last month and will begin at the start of the season.“We have no idea,” Skoglund said in a media room at the Royals’ spring training complex.“That’s the hardest part. Something got into my body without me knowing, it was scary. It just makes you think what could have been.”“That’s the hardest part to deal with, not knowing because I’m not a guy that’s going to cheat the game. I didn’t do anything maliciously. It’s not the type of person I am. It’s not in my character. It’s not how I was raised. So it stinks. We couldn’t find anything and that’s what is going to eat me for the rest of my career. It’s not a good feeling at all,” the left-hander said.Asked how it felt to tell Royals general manager Dayton Moore about the suspension, Skoglund became very emotional and could not finish his sentence.“A relief,” he said. “I was in a pretty tough spot, but.”With his eyes watery, Skoglund did not say another word before exiting the room.He returned after a few minutes to finish the answer.“It was a relief,” Skoglund said. “I was just going through a lot these last couple of months. I knew I didn’t do anything maliciously, so having his support was a good feeling for me http://www.angelsfanproshop.com/authentic-zack-cozart-jersey , definitely helped.”He said only his parents and girlfriend knew about the suspension before he talked to Moore.“I was very fortunate I was able to have my girlfriend and my family by my side during that time just because it was extremely tough and I wasn’t able to speak to anyone about it,” he said. “I was bouncing all around the country just trying to stay afloat mentally.”Skoglund, who was a Royals’ rotation candidate after going 1-6 with a 5.14 ERA, remains confused on why he tested positive for selective androgen receptor modulators S-22 (Ostarine) and LGD-4033 (Ligandrol).“I didn’t change anything in my offseason that I had done in previous offseasons,” Skoglund said. “The only thing I did was eat cleaner. We didn’t have any information. They said if you try to appeal, you’re probably not going to win. At that point, I just wanted to let the Royals know I was pretty beat inside and it was just eating at me.“I just would rather tell them than appeal for another month and not be able to tell anyone and lose. It would just make me worse mentally, physically, so I just wanted to get it out there with Dayton and the front office,” he said.He said he the only vitamins and supplements he ingested during the offseason came from the Royals’ medical staff and were passed out at the end of season.“I wish I had an answer,” he said.The 6-foot-7, 26-year-old was a 2014 third-round pick out of Central Florida.He was limited to 14 games Darin Erstad Jersey , 13 of them starts, last season after going on the 60-day disabled list with an elbow strain.He returned in September, where he had a 1.33 ERA and held opponents to a .157 batting average in four games. BALTIMORE–The defending World Series champion Houston Astros close the 2018 season with a trip to Baltimore this weekend, and the first game of their four-game series with the Orioles is set for Thursday at 7:05 p.m. ET at Camden Yards.Houston already has clinched the American League West and will play the Indians in the Division Series. That starts on Oct. 5, and the Astros get home-field advantage there.The only time Houston would not hold the home-field advantage is if it meets Boston in the AL Championship Series as the Red Sox already have that locked up.Article continues below ...David Hess (3-10, 5.14 ERA) will start for the Orioles versus Houston right-hander Gerrit Cole (15-5, 2.92) on Thursday.Cole has given an already-strong Astros’ starting staff even more punch this season. He has won five in a row and last lost on Aug. 10. This will be the first time Cole has pitched against the Orioles this season — and in fact, he’s never gone against Baltimore in his career.Hess has been up and down during this rookie season. The right-hander has gone 1-5 in the past two months but pitched effectively on several occasions.This will be the first time he’s ever pitched against the Astros.Houston (100-58) is coming off of a 3-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday in a game that really meant nothing. The Astros actually clinched the division total very early Wednesday morning when Oakland lost to Seattle.However, Houston officially celebrated in the locker room after the loss in Toronto, and now will prepare for this four-game series in Baltimore that really holds little meaning except that the Astros want to go into the playoffs on a good note.“We’re the only team that can repeat, and our team needs to know that,” Houston manager AJ Hinch told reporters. “It’s important for us to have our moment and lock back in. In a week http://www.angelsfanproshop.com/authentic-zack-cozart-jersey , we’re going to play real baseball.”Baltimore is starting the final series of an historically poor season. To make matters worse, the Orioles have run out of pitchers at times, especially in the starting rotation, which is a big reason they went with a committee approach in Wednesday’s day-night doubleheader in Boston.Plus, most of the pitchers Baltimore is using do not have a lot of major league experience and are being hit hard as they get used to life at this level.“There are better days ahead for those guys,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said of the young pitchers. “But it’s a tough learning curve. (However) it’s never as bad as it seems or as good as it seems.”The Orioles are coming into this series after splitting a day-night doubleheader in Boston on Wednesday. Boston crushed Baltimore 19-3 in the first game — the biggest margin of defeat the Orioles (46-112) have suffered in this forgetful season.However, Baltimore bounced back and pulled out a 10-3 victory in the nightcap, thanks to seven runs in the final three innings.