Some of baseball's biggest stars responded with denials and denunciations following a Los Angeles Times report in which former pitcher Jason Grimsley accused five players of using performance-enhancing drugs, according to a federal agent's affidavit. The other players cited were Baltimore teammates Brian Roberts and Jay Gibbons.

Grimsley once played with Clemens and Pettitte on the New York Yankees and is now out of baseball. The reliever has admitted using a variety of banned substances and was suspended for 50 games by Major League Baseball (MLB).

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Clemens and Pettitte, now teammates on the Houston Astros, denied the allegations.

"I just think it's incredibly dangerous to sit out there and just throw names out there," Clemens said before the final day of the regular season.

"I haven't seen [the report], nor do I need to see it.

"For the people involved it is very dangerous and malicious and reckless on the part of somebody ... to put something out there with somebody else's writing on it," he added.

Clemens said he has been tested "plenty of times" and passed every test.

Pettitte was "stunned" by the report. "I played with Grimsley for a couple of years in New York and had a great relationship with him," the pitcher said before the Astros' game.

"I've never used any drugs to enhance my performance in baseball. I don't know what else to say except to say it's embarrassing my name would be out there."

In June, federal agents searched Grimsley's home in Arizona after the pitcher admitted using human growth hormone (HGH), steroids and amphetamines.

Grimsley later was released by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In a search warrant affidavit signed by IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky, the Times reported, he said Grimsley identified other players who had used drugs.

Those names were blacked out when the document was released.

All major league players are tested at least twice a year for banned drugs. There is no test for HGH, but it is banned by the sport. Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell was hired by MLB to investigate steroids in baseball.

The Times said a source with access to the document - minus the cross-outs - allowed the newspaper to see it but kept the copy. The Times said a second source who had identified the other players provided additional details about the document.

According to the affidavit, the Times said, Grimsley told investigators Clemens and Pettitte "used athletic performance-enhancing drugs."

Houston teammate Lance Berkman said he would be startled to find either of the two pitchers were involved.

"You just have to be very, very careful when you make accusations like that," he said. "You better be right about it."

The affidavit also alleged Grimsley told federal agents that Roberts, Gibbons and Tejada, all with the Orioles, "took anabolic steroids."

Gibbons has said he has passed every test administered by baseball. "I'm as shocked as anybody else," he said.

Roberts derided the accusations as "ridiculous."

ASSOCIATED PRESS