Aug 20, 2013 2 min read

Boston’s Ryan Dempster accepted his punishment without admitting any misdeed.

Dempster was suspended for five games and fined by Major League Baseball Tuesday for intentionally hitting New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez with a pitch last weekend.

While Dempster still maintains he was only trying to establish the inside part of the plate and wasn’t trying to hit Rodriguez on purpose, he will not contest the punishment and began serving it Tuesday.

“I thought about appealing,” Dempster said before Boston played the Giants. “At the end of the day, I think Major League Baseball does a really good job of thinking through punishments before they hand them out. I thought it was in the best interest of us as a team to go ahead and serve my suspension.”

MLB senior vice president Joe Garagiola Jr. announced the penalty two days after Dempster hit A-Rod in the second inning at Fenway Park. Yankees manager Joe Girardi was fined for arguing with plate umpire Brian O’Nora.

Dempster’s fine was $2,500 and Girardi’s was $5,000, people familiar with the discipline told the Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the amounts were not announced.

N.Y. Yankees 8, Toronto 4: Robinson Cano hit his 200th homer among four hits and drove in four runs, Chris Stewart hit a go-ahead three-run drive, and the Yankees rallied to hand the Toronto Blue Jays their record 10th straight loss in New York, 8-4 in the opener of a split doubleheader.

Ogando back to DL: Rangers right-hander Alexi Ogando is on the disabled list for the third time this season.

Texas had initially been hopeful that Ogando would miss only one start after getting an injection for an inflamed nerve in his right shoulder. Instead, he was put on the DL on Tuesday when left-hander Travis Blackley was called up from Triple-A Round Rock to take his spot in the rotation against Houston.

“Yeah, he’s going to need more time. … So it was easier for us to use his spot and give him time,” manager Ron Washington said.