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SAN FRANCISCO -- Bostons Ryan Dempster accepted his punishment without admitting any misdeed. The Canadian pitcher was suspended for five games and fined by Major League Baseball on 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 wasnt trying to hit Rodriguez on purpose, he will not contest the punishment and began serving it Tuesday. "I thought about appealing," the Gibsons, B.C., native 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 ONora. Dempsters fine was $2,500 and Girardis 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 was scheduled to pitch Saturday at the Los Angeles Dodgers but now could be pushed back to next Tuesdays homestand opener against Baltimore. He will throw a simulated game on Friday. Boston is off Thursday, and Jon Lester will be able to pitch on regular rest Saturday in Dempsters place. Jake Peavy is set to go Sunday on normal four days rest. "That has nothing to do with it," Dempster said. "I think it has to do with taking my suspension and put it past. Theres no point in carrying out an appeals process. We have other things to worry about and thats going out and winning a ballgame tonight against the San Francisco Giants. Ill take my punishment." Earlier Tuesday, Girardi insisted it would be "open season" on Rodriguez if MLB failed to suspend Dempster. Girardi had hoped for a suspension long enough to make Dempster miss a turn. "I think I made my feelings pretty clear then," Girardi said after the suspension was announced. Dempster threw one pitch behind A-Rods knees and two more inside during the second inning. Then his 3-0 pitch struck Rodriguezs left elbow pad and ricocheted off his back. "You dont throw at a guy four times," Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia said. "He violated every code in every way." Dempster said he will never stop pitching inside. "Thats a real important part of pitching to any hitter, especially a big power hitter," he said. Girardi sprinted onto the field, screaming at ONora 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. "That baseball is a weapon. Its not a tennis ball. Or its not an Incrediball thats soft. Its a weapon, and it can do a lot of damage to someones life," Girardi said before a doubleheader against Toronto. "And thats why I was so upset about it. You can express your opinion and be upset with someone, but you just cant start throwing baseballs at people. I mean, its scary." Girardi said his profane rant at ONora probably was the angriest hes been on a ball field. Rodriguez was suspended for 211 games on Aug. 5 for violating baseballs drug and labour agreements but is playing while he appeals. Red Sox pitcher John Lackey criticized the rules last week for allowing A-Rod to play. Girardi said prior to the announcement that if Dempster wasnt punished, it would make Rodriguez "open season for people, and that cant happen. Its not fair. If a player is suspended for throwing at someone, theyre going to get their appeal. Are we just going to throw that out, too?" Asked later if the level of penalty would make it open season, he responded: "Thats my concern. Well find out. I sure hope not." "If you suspend a position player three games, he misses three games," Girardi added. "You can suspend a pitcher five games, even six games and he may not miss a start. The off days come into play." The Red Sox did not criticize the decision, saying their focus was on winning games and making it to the playoffs. "We fully respect what MLB has decided to do and hand down the suspension," manager John Farrell said. "Never has it been uttered that its been unjust. To Ryans credit, hes serving the suspension starting tonight." New York didnt retaliate Sunday. Girardi wouldnt say whether there is a need to respond when the teams next meet, at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 5. Girardi said "protecting your own" in baseball has gone on for "for a long time. And unfortunately youre part of those situations sometimes, but thats part of the game." The manager also discussed the matter with his 6-year-old son, Dante. "Part of pitching is pitching inside, thats all part of it," he recalled telling the boy. "But I dont ever want you to hit anyone on purpose." After Sundays game, Rodriguez declined to say whether Dempster should be suspended. "Im the wrong guy to be asking about suspensions. Holy mackerel," A-Rod said with a laugh. "Ive got an attorney I can recommend." NBA Jerseys Wholesale . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. Cheap Jerseys 2018 . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. 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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Swimmer Yusra Mardini, who survived a harrowing sea crossing a year ago and is now among 10 refugees competing under the Olympic flag in Rio, won her preliminary heat in the 100-meter butterfly Saturday. But the result wasnt enough to advance her to the semifinals.Mardinis time of 1:9.21 put her 41st overall in the preliminary round, and only the top 16 swimmers moved on to the late-night semifinals. Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden had the top qualifying time of 56.26 seconds.Mardini will compete is a second individual event Wednesday when she swims the womens 100-meter freestyle.Mardini was a competitive swimmer in Syria until she fled the war with her sister last August and survived a hazardous crossing on the Aegean Sea to reach Europe. The Mardini sisters had been among Syrias brightest swimming stars and their family had been moving around to avoid the fighting so they could continue swimming. But the war intensified and eventually the decision was made to leave altogether.The sisters joined a wave of Syrian refugees who left Damascus last summer. They made their way to Lebanon and then Turkey, where they paid smugglers tto take them to Greece.ddddddddddddTheir first attempt was thwarted when Turkish coastguards drove their boat back so they tried again, boarding a small inflatable dinghy at dusk.All but three of the 20 people crowded on the dinghy couldnt swim. Within half an hour, the boat was taking on water.The passengers bags were thrown overboard in an effort to stay afloat as wind churned up the Aegean Sea. But it wasnt enough. As a last resort, the Mardini sisters and another strong swimmer jumped into the water to give the boat more buoyancy.For 3 1/2 hours they clung to the side of the small boat until it reached the Greek island of Lesbos. A weekslong overland trek followed through Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary. They had to hide from police in cornfields to reach Hungary.Eventually, the sisters made it to Austria and then Germany, where they have since been joined by the rest of their family in Berlin.---Learn more about the refugee Olympians competing in Rio: http://interactives.ap.org/2016/refugee-olympians/#syria ' ' '