Pirates' Chris Archer drops appeal, begins serving suspension

WASHINGTON — Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Chris Archer dropped his appeal and began serving a five-game suspension Sunday for setting off a benches-clearing altercation on April 7.

The impact of Archer’s suspension will be minimal. He ended his appeal a day after allowing one run in seven innings against Washington, getting a no-decision in Pittsburgh’s loss. The Pirates have two days off this week, and Archer will make his next start April 21 against San Francisco.

He was suspended for throwing a fastball behind Cincinnati’s Derek Dietrich, who had stood and watched a long home run in his previous at-bat. Archer was not among the five players ejected from the game.

“I don’t think there’s going to be a reduction in suspension games, so it’s just time to move on,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said Sunday.

Archer, who is 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA in three starts, said he was told the reason for the suspension was that it instigated the benches to clear.

“If the benches wouldn’t have cleared, then it might be a different verdict,” Archer said. “It’s what they came up with. They’re not going to budge, so there’s no reason to delay.”