The Philadelphia Phillies confirmed yesterday that one of their players had a confrontation with a fan after the game Thursday at Tampa Bay. The Phillies did not identify the player. The Rays also confirmed the incident but did not release details.

The St. Petersburg Times, however, reported on its Web site yesterday that Phillies reliever J.C. Romero grabbed and shoved Robert Eaton, 25, of New Port Richey, Fla., after the fan made two comments about steroids.

Romero was suspended for the first 50 games this season after testing positive for androstenedione, a substance that Mark McGwire used in the 1990s that later was banned by baseball. Romero, who earned two wins in the Phillies' World Series victory against Tampa Bay last year, has sued the manufacturer of an over-the-counter supplement he said led to his positive test.

Eaton told the newspaper he called out to Romero after a couple of Phillies brushed off his requests for autographs, asking the left-hander to get him some steroids. After Romero told him to shut up and that he didn't know what he was talking about, Eaton said he replied that Romero was the one who had been suspended recently.

"He reared back and kinda grazed my chin and grabbed me by the neck and threw me back," Eaton told the newspaper. "I was in shock."

Romero declined comment on the incident yesterday. A St. Petersburg Police Department supervisor confirmed a battery allegation at the ballpark Thursday, but would not identify who was involved.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that right-hander Jeremy Jeffress, the top pitching prospect in the Brewers' minor league system, has been suspended for 100 games for testing positive for a second time for a "drug of abuse." The penalty leaves Jeffress, 21, one positive test away from a lifetime ban. The formal announcement of the suspension is due from Major League Baseball tomorrow.

Milton Bradley was in Chicago's lineup a day after he was sent home by manager Lou Piniella following an angry outburst. "I apologized for the last comment I made, told him he knows in the context I meant it," Piniella said. The incident flared after Bradley threw his helmet and went after a water cooler after a fly out in the sixth inning of the Cubs' loss Friday against the crosstown rival White Sox.