Major League Baseball let Boston Red Sox pitcher Ryan Dempster know they'll handle Alex Rodriguez's punishment on their own, with no need for vigilante acts, suspending Dempster five games and fining him for intentionally hitting the New York Yankees slugger Sunday night.

Dempster immediately accepted his suspension, the first of his career, instead of appealing the punishment.

WATCH AGAIN: Dempster plunks A-Rod

MORE: MLB willing to release A-Rod evidence

"There's no point in carrying out an appeal,'' Dempster said. "We have other things to worry about. … I'll take my punishment and go on.

"I thought about appealing, but at the end of the day, MLB does a really good job of thinking through punishments before they hand them out. I just thought it was in the best interests of us as a team to just go ahead and serve my suspension.''

Yet, the biggest reason Dempster immediately accepted the suspension is that he won't miss a start. The Red Sox have off-days Thursday and Monday. So instead of making his next start Saturday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he could start Tuesday, with Jon Lester and Jake Peavy pitching on regular rest over the weekend at Dodger Stadium.

"I thought he at least should miss a start and he's not going to do that," Yankees ace CC Sabathia said. "I don't think it does anything."

Yankees manager Joe Girardi also was annoyed at the suspension's length, saying: "I think when you talk about suspensions, if you suspend a position player three games, he misses three games. You can suspend a pitcher five games, even six games, and he might not miss a start if the off- days come into play.

"That's why I think everything has to be taken into account when you make a suspension. Not just in this case, all the time."

Dempster may have been trying to make a statement intentionally throwing at Rodriguez. Rodriguez has been suspended 211-games for the use of performance-enhancing drugs, but appealed the decision, and is permitted to play.

"Whether you like me or hate, that was wrong," Rodriguez said Sunday night. "That was unprofessional and silly. It was kind of a silly way to get someone hurt on your team as well.''

Dempster insisted he "was trying to pitch him inside," but the Yankees said it was obvious that he was intentionally throwing at Rodriguez, and were incensed that home-plate umpire Brian O'Nora only warned him, and didn't eject him.


"I'm sure if it happens again that hopefully somebody will see that this isn't enough and that guys need to be suspended longer."

It's the first time in Dempster's 16-year career, he said, that he has been suspended.

"It sucks anytime you get suspended,'' Dempster said, "it's not a fun feeling to have. I wish things would have played out differently. I didn't want to get suspended.''

Contributing: Jorge L. Ortiz and Chad Jennings