Rule is not made to be broken

Sergio Garcia sounded surprised about testing positive for performance-enhancing substances a second time when he spoke with 51s manager Lorenzo Bundy about his 100-game suspension from baseball.

But several 51s players said Thursday the drug policy is clear about which substances are permitted.

"Everybody knows what you're supposed to take and what you're not supposed to take," outfielder Choo Freeman said before Las Vegas' 8-5 victory over Salt Lake at Cashman Field. "If you're not sure, then you just ask somebody.

"I have no idea if Serge took anything. I didn't approach him about that, but I just called him and encouraged him."

Players are provided with a list of banned substances in spring training, but Freeman said it doesn't cover everything.

"There's some stuff you can take from GNC and it will show up positive, so you should always check with your strength coach," he said. "You don't have to check everything; you just have to be careful."

Outfielder Delwyn Young said players are told to keep a portion of any questionable substance to protect themselves from a false positive test.

"They told us if you take a vitamin or a shake or something from GNC to keep (some) of it, just in case something like that happens," said Young, who made a spectacular catch crashing into the right-field wall in the first inning Thursday.

Young, a Pacific Coast League All-Star who is hitting .335, said he's never been tempted to use steroids.

"No, I'm doing all right," he said. "I told somebody the other day if it would make me taller I might do it, but all it's going to do is make me get wider. Being (5 feet 9 inches tall) and getting wider doesn't really help me at all."

Players are tested, individually and/or as a team, during spring training and randomly in the regular season.

Major League Baseball and the Los Angeles Dodgers test the 51s, and Bundy said the team was tested twice in spring training and three times during the season, including once about three weeks ago.

De Jon Watson, the Dodgers' director of player development, informed Garcia of his test results.

"I was surprised," Watson said. "We educate our kids on the things they put in their bodies, so it catches you off guard."

Dr. Jack Singer, a certified sports psychologist based in Laguna Beach, Calif., said there's a simple reason why a player such as Garcia would risk his career and more by continuing to take steroids after a first positive test.

"Steroids are very addictive, like any other drug people shouldn't be taking without a lot of extreme care," he said. "When someone becomes addicted, it's difficult to stop.

"The other part people get hooked up with is psychological addiction. They like the way their body looks and works, and they don't want to give it up."

• NOTES -- 51s left fielder Wilkin Ruan recorded three outfield assists, including a Pacific Coast League record-tying two in one inning. Ruan threw out Greg Porter and Mike Eylward in the first inning and gunned down Nick Gorneault in the eighth. All three runners were trying to stretch singles into doubles. ... Shortstop Chin-Lung Hu was promoted to Las Vegas from Double-A Jacksonville and belted a game-tying homer in the third inning for his first Triple-A hit. Hu, who hails from Taiwan, was named Most Valuable Player of Sunday's All-Star Futures Game in San Francisco. Hu had two RBI hits and a stolen base in the World team's 7-2 win over the United States team. ... The 51s made a host of transactions since their last homestand:

-- Garcia was placed on the restricted list;

-- catcher Octavio Martinez was put on the disabled list;

-- John Lindsey was activated from the inactive list after his wife gave birth to a boy, John III;

-- utility player Ramon Martinez rejoined the Dodgers after completing a rehabilitation assignment in Las Vegas;

-- and in the bullpen, D.J. Houlton was optioned to the 51s from Los Angeles, Harold Eckert was released, Matt Riley was activated from the disabled list, 51s pitchers Eric Stults and Hong-Chih Kuo were promoted to the Dodgers, and Eric Cyr was promoted to Las Vegas from Jacksonville.