Rockies player suspended for HGH

Colorado Rockies minor league first baseman Mike Jacobs has been suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball on Thursday for testing positive for Human Growth Hormone. The Rockies subsequently released Jacobs, who had spent parts of six seasons with the club. He is the first North American professional athlete to test positive for HGH. Jacobs acknowledged to ESPN's Jayson Stark that he used the performance enhancing drug to cope with knee and back issues. The 30-year-old Jacobs is hitting .293 with 23 homers and 97 RBIs for Triple-A Colorado Springs in the Pacific Coast League. Jacobs has a career batting average of .253 with 100 homers and 310 RBIs with the New York Mets, Florida Marlins and Kansas City Royals.