No Appeal for Penny Suspension

Pitcher Brad Penny decided at the last minute to withdraw his appeal of a five-day suspension and instead began serving it Wednesday.

His scheduled start Sunday at Colorado will be pushed back and he instead will go against San Francisco on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium. Rookie Edwin Jackson will start Sunday.

Penny’s agent, Greg Genske, and players’ union representative Bob Lenaghan recommended that he drop the appeal because they believed he had no chance to win. A $2,000 fine was reduced.

The suspension stems from a July 14 game against San Francisco when Penny was called out in the third inning after he beat out a bunt, turned toward second base and was tagged out. He argued with the home plate umpire, was ejected and flew into a rage.

Manager Jim Tracy has tentatively scheduled the starting rotation through the end of the season. Derek Lowe, Penny and Jeff Weaver will start all but one of six games against first-place San Diego, with D.J. Houlton starting the other one.

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The last day to trade players who had cleared waivers passed without the Dodgers unloading high-salaried players or acquiring any players.

There was speculation Weaver might be traded if General Manager Paul DePodesta believed the team had no chance to catch San Diego in the National League West. But Weaver was the best Dodger pitcher in August and dealing him would signal that the front office had given up on the team.

Yet in DePodesta’s mind, taking on salary by bringing in players was not prudent either because statistical analysis shows that the chances of winning the division are remote. Since the non-waiver trading deadline, the Dodgers traded only for outfielder Jose Cruz Jr.

Rosters can be expanded from 25 to 40 today and Tracy said two players would join the team Friday at Colorado. Additional minor leaguers are expected to be added when double-A Jacksonville finishes its season in mid-September.

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Reliever Giovanni Carrara returned to L.A. because one of his 2-year-old twin sons went into convulsions Tuesday night and was hospitalized. Tracy said the boy has had similar symptoms twice before.

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Willy Aybar made his debut, grounding out to the pitcher in the ninth and carrying the barrel of his broken bat halfway to first. Aybar signed for $1.4 million in 2000, at the time the highest bonus paid to a player from the Dominican Republic. He batted .297 with five home runs and 60 runs batted in for triple-A Las Vegas this season. Aybar is the ninth Dodger to make his debut this season and the 17th rookie to appear in a game this season.