Ryan Dempster won’t appeal suspension for throwing at A-Rod

Boston pitcher Ryan Dempster didn’t admit to any wrongdoing but began serving his five-game suspension Tuesday for throwing at New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez three days earlier.

“I thought about appealing,” said Dempster, who maintains that he was trying to establish the inside part of the plate and didn’t hit A-Rod on purpose during the second inning of Sunday’s game.

“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.”

Dempster was scheduled to pitch Saturday against the Dodgers in Los Angeles but now appears to be in line to start at home against Baltimore on Tuesday. With the Red Sox off Thursday, Jon Lester will be able to pitch on regular rest Saturday and Jake Peavy can throw Sunday on normal four days’ rest.

In other words, Dempster’s punishment is merely a few extra days between starts (plus a reported $2,500 fine). Had he waited and then lost the appeal, the right-hander may have missed a start.

“That has nothing to do with it,” Dempster said before Tuesday’s game. “I think it has to do with taking my suspension and put it past. There’s no point in carrying out an appeals process. We have other things to worry about and that’s going out and winning a ballgame tonight against the San Francisco Giants. I’ll take my punishment.”

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