Boston's Ryan Dempster suspended for intentionally beaning A-Rod

SAN FRANCISCO Boston's Ryan Dempster was suspended for five games and fined by Major League Baseball for intentionally hitting Yankees star Alex Rodriguez with a pitch last weekend.

The penalty was announced Tuesday by MLB senior vice president Joe Garagiola Jr., 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.

Dempster won't appeal the decision.

"I thought it was in the best interest of my team to go ahead and serve my suspension," he said before Boston played the Giants in San Francisco.

He was scheduled to pitch Saturday at the Los Angeles Dodgers, but now could be pushed back to next Tuesday's homestand opener against Baltimore. He will throw a simulated game on Friday.

Earlier Tuesday, Girardi insisted it would be "open season" on Rodriguez if MLB failed to suspend Dempster.

"I think I made my feelings pretty clear then," he said after the suspension was announced.

Dempster threw one pitch behind A-Rod's knees and two more inside during the second inning. Then his 3-0 pitch struck Rodriguez's left elbow pad and ricocheted off his back.

Girardi sprinted onto the field, screaming at O'Nora for not ejecting the pitcher. Girardi was tossed as the benches and bullpens emptied, and Rodriguez homered off Dempster to spark a sixth-inning rally that lifted New York to a 9-6 win.

Dempster maintained he was pitching inside and wasn't trying to hit Rodriguez.

"That baseball is a weapon. It's not a tennis ball. Or it's not an Incrediball that's soft. It's a weapon, and it can do a lot of damage to someone's life," Girardi said before a doubleheader against Toronto. "And that's why I was so upset about it. You can express your opinion and be upset with someone, but you just can't start throwing baseballs at people. I mean, it's scary."

Girardi said his profane rant at O'Nora probably was the angriest he's been on a ball field.

Rodriguez was suspended for 211 games on Aug. 5 for violating baseball's drug and labor agreements but is playing while he appeals. Red Sox pitcher John Lackey criticized the rules last week for allowing A-Rod to play.

Last week, "60 Minutes" reported that Rodriguez had leaked incriminating documents against several players to misdirect investigators closing in on him in a doping probe.

Rodriguez hasdenied that allegation.