Lawyers for Major League Baseball players Ryan Zimmerman and Ryan Howard went for a double play last week in federal district court in Washington, filing libel lawsuits against Al-Jazeera America LLC. Zimmerman and Howard — starting first basemen for the Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies, respectively — claim a recent Al-Jazeera program falsely accused them of using illegal performance-enhancing drugs. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan represents Zimmerman and Miller & Chevalier represents Howard.

The players are suing the network, reporter Deborah Davies and Liam Collins, who aided Davies' reporting, over “The Dark Side: Secrets of the Sports Dopers,” which aired Dec. 27. The suits center on conversations between Collins — described as “a former hurdler, would-be bobsledder, and bankrupt real-estate promoter who is banned by British authorities from directing any business until 2027″ — and Charles David Sly, who was recorded by Collins saying that he provided banned substances to Zimmerman and Howard. Shortly before the program aired, Sly recanted his statements. “Despite six months of undercover work, defendants failed to uncover a single reported piece of evidence corroborating Sly's outlandish claims,” lawyers for Zimmerman and Howard wrote in their complaints.

Zimmerman and Howard denied using steroids or any other banned performance-enhancing drugs. The Al-Jazeera program, their lawyers said, harmed their reputations and threatened sponsorships and charitable activities. The players asked the court to order Al-Jazeera to remove the allegedly false statements and publish a retraction in a media outlet with “wide distribution.” — Zoe Tillman