WASHINGTON – Waner Mateo, a right-hander on the Mets’ A-ball Hagerstown team, has been suspended for 50 games for testing positive for a “performance-enhancing substance.”

Mateo was one of four minor league pitchers suspended yesterday for violating baseball’s new minor league drug progam.

Also suspended were Ryan Rafferty of the Royals and two pitchers from the Reds organization – Ramon Ramirez and Justin Mallet.

Mallet was penalized for testing positive for a drug of abuse. The others tested positive for performance-enhancing substances.

The penalty this year for an initial positive test was increased from 15 games to 50 for players with minor league contracts. For major leaguers, the punishment was upped from 10 to 50 games.