Roger Clemens calls the report "dangerous and malicious and reckless." Andy Pettitte insists he never took banned drugs. Miguel Tejada says he is being smeared again by scandal.

Some of baseball's biggest stars responded with denials and denunciations yesterday 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.

Clemens and Pettitte, now teammates on the Houston Astros, denied the allegations yesterday. "I just think it's incredibly dangerous to sit out there and just throw names out there," Clemens said. "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.

Pettitte was "stunned" by the report. "I've never used any drugs to enhance my performance in baseball. I don't know what else to say."

In June, federal agents searched Grimsley's home in Arizona after the pitcher admitted using human growth hormone, steroids and amphetamines. Grimsley later was released by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Yankees

Randy Johnson was optimistic after a bullpen session that he will start Game 3 of the playoffs Friday night. Johnson threw 41 pitches under the watchful eye of manager Joe Torre, pitching coach Ron Guidry and bullpen coach Joe Kerrigan.

Red Sox

Devern Hansack pitched no-hit ball for five innings before the game was called because of rain, giving Boston a 9-0 win against Baltimore -- but not giving the Red Sox rookie official credit for a no-hitter. In only his second major-league outing, Hansack became the ninth AL pitcher to allow no hits in a complete game of fewer than nine innings. In September 1991, a committee chaired by then-commissioner Fay Vincent changed rules that eliminated such performances from counting as no-hitters, wiping nearly 50 of them off the books. To stand, pitchers must allow no hits in a complete game that goes at least nine innings.

Giants

Barry Bonds wasted no time making his exit after yesterday's game against the Dodgers, packing every souvenir he could -- including the nameplate from above his corner locker, which was empty but for a few hangers. Only baby powder, a spit cup and a water bottle remained on top of his personal TV. Bonds' five-year, $90 million contract is up after the season.

Diamondbacks

It was an emotional day for Arizona, which said goodbye to fan favorite Luis Gonzalez after eight seasons. The club announced last month it would not exercise its $10 million contract option on the 39-year-old Gonzalez, the Diamondbacks' leader in most lifetime batting categories. A sellout crowd of 48,946, the largest regular-season crowd in team history, turned out to honor Gonzalez yesterday.

Cubs

An emotional Andy MacPhail resigned as president and CEO of Chicago after failing to get the team to the World Series during his 12-year tenure. "This is the first thing I've ever done in baseball that I didn't have a high level of success at," MacPhail said, his voice cracking. Chicago finished its season at 66-96, the worst record in the league.