SAN FRANCISCO — Red Sox pitcher Ryan Dempster was suspended for five games by Major League Baseball for intentionally throwing at Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez Sunday night. The righthander did not appeal and began serving his sentence on Tuesday.
Dempster also was fined $2,500.
But Dempster continued to deny he threw at Rodriguez on purpose when he drilled the accused drug cheat on the elbow with a fastball after throwing his first pitch behind Rodriguez and the next two inside.
”I thought about appealing. But at the end of the day, Major League Baseball does a really good job of thinking through punishments before they hand them out,” Dempster said before the Red Sox played the Giants. ”I just thought it was in the best interests of us as a team to go ahead and serve my suspension.”
Dempster (6-9 with a 4.77 earned run average) had been scheduled to face the Dodgers on Saturday. The Sox will instead move Jon Lester into the game and start Jake Peavy on Sunday night.
With the Red Sox off on Thursday and Monday, the suspension has virtually no effect on the team. Dempster could return Tuesday at Fenway Park against the Orioles.
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