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BALTIMORE - Orioles third baseman Manny Machado began serving a five-game suspension Monday, nearly three weeks after Major League Baseball initially levied the sentence and five days after his appeal hearing. Machado was suspended and fined on June 10 for intentionally throwing his bat on the field during an at-bat in Baltimores game against Oakland on June 8. Machado immediately appealed the suspension, and spoke for about an hour Wednesday in an appeal hearing in Baltimore with MLB official Joe Garagiola Jr. The initial decision was upheld, meaning Machado will miss the Orioles four-game series against visiting Texas that began Monday, along with Friday nights game in Boston. "When we went in for an appeal I thought we had a good case, we had a great case," Machado said Monday afternoon. "We said what we had to say. It didnt come out how we wanted it to, but going into the appeal you know its going to be 50-50. Its something you cant control. I think we did the right thing, its a flip of the coin and we came up short. ... So now were just going to have to deal with the consequences." So will the Orioles, who will be forced to play with a 24-man roster. Chris Davis, who usually plays first base, was at third base on Monday night. "Thats the worst part about it. Were down a man," Machado said. "Obviously I dont want to put my team in that situation, especially five tough games." Machado tossed his bat in the direction of third base during a plate appearance in which Oakland reliever Fernando Abad threw successive high-and-tight pitches. After the bat went soaring, both benches emptied. Machado and Abad were ejected. Abad was fined but not suspended. "I didnt throw the bat at the pitcher. I didnt harm anybody. And Im going to get five games," Machado said. "I didnt charge the mound. I didnt get in a fight. ... This is an unfortunate event and Im going to have to deal with it." Orioles executive vice-president Dan Duquette said: "Obviously, we were disappointed. We were hoping the suspension would be reduced, and we thought there were good reasons it should have been reduced." In the opener of that series against the Athletics on June 6, Machado yelled in the face of Oaklands Josh Donaldson after the third baseman tagged him on the chest and caused him to lose his balance. Both benches emptied, but there were no ejections. "It sounded like they were giving him four games for the bat and they were also giving him an additional game for the Friday night," Duquette said. "I hadnt heard of a case where they went back and retroactively apply a suspension. ... The umpires didnt recommend any discipline; Manny stayed in the game. So that was kind of puzzling." Machado, 21, said he learned a lesson from the experience. "Dont do it again," he said. "You dont want to be in this situation. No one wants to be in it. Well just go from here and try to put this behind me and just go on playing baseball." Orioles manager Buck Showalter hoped the five-game sentence would be lowered after the appeal, but was ready to move on after the punishment remained in place. "It was surprising," Showalter said. "Were not going to dwell on it. We understand the rules and why things are in place for different reasons. There are repercussions for actions in baseball as there are in life in general. Hopefully, there will be some positive that comes out of it where Manny is concerned in the future and for all players, managers and coaches." Machado missed the first month of the 2014 season recovering from off-season knee surgery and got off to a slow start at the plate. Just before Mondays suspension, however, he had 10 hits over an eight-game span to raise his batting average 15 points to .239, and he also hit three home runs in his previous four starts. That made the timing of the suspension even tougher to take. "Definitely. It just (stinks)," he said. "I was starting to feel a little better at the plate and here they come with that bomb, five games. It was going to come. It was just about time to come. Unfortunately it came in the wrong spot, but hey, nothing you can do about it." Custom Miami Dolphins Jerseys . DeGrom outpitched Jake Peavy in a tantalizing hitless duel that carried into the seventh inning Saturday night before the New York Mets broke loose and beat the San Francisco Giants 4-2. Bob Griese Jersey . "Its way better than running gassers, thats for sure," the inside linebacker said Monday, when the Chargers started their third and final week of organized team activities, which are practices in shorts, jerseys and helmets. http://www.authenticdolphinspro.com/ . The Suns termed Fridays surgery by team doctor Thomas Carter a success. No timetable was given for Bledsoes return but the team said in a news release that he "will pursue a possible return to action during the second half" of the season. Larry Csonka Jersey . Pospisil, whose season-ending goal is to improve his ATP Tour ranking enough to qualify for one of the 32 seedings at Januarys Australian Open, dominated Karlovic in 59 minutes. The world No. 40 never faced a break point and limited the big mans threatening ace count to a mere eight, while striking five key aces of his own. Jason Taylor Jersey . Reimer told TSNs Mark Masters on Tuesday that he doesnt know if he will be moved leading up to the March 5 trade deadline but added he wasnt interested in discussing it. "Who knows whats going to happen on the horizon here and right now I dont know if I want to talk about it too much.SAN DIEGO – The Blue Jays arent limiting their pursuit of a starting second baseman to the North American market. Multiple sources have confirmed to TSN.ca and ESPN Deportes that the club has interest in free agent Japanese shortstop Takashi Toritani. As of Wednesday afternoon, no formal offer had been made and according to one source, term and dollar figures hadnt been exchanged. Its believed Toritani, a client of super agent Scott Boras, will seek a multi-year deal. Toritani, 33, is an 11-year veteran of the Japan Central League, having played his entire career with the Hanshin Tigers. A left-handed slap hitter, Toritani has posted back-to-back seasons with on-base percentages of better than .400 and hasnt posted an OBP lower than .350 since 2005, when he was 24. Toritani has a career 11.6-percent walk rate and has amassed more than 1,600 hits. Considered a sure-handed defender, a move to the other side of the infield wouldnt be an issue. The Blue Jays have a number of internal options at second base but none is appealing. Maicer Izturis is returning from a season lost to injury.dddddddddddd. It was mid-April in Baltimore when Izturis tore the lateral collateral ligament in his left knee after slipping on the dugout steps. Entering the final year of his three-year, $9 million contract, Izturis has value as a utility infielder but the Jays wont know the degree to which hes recovered until they see him play in spring training. Over his career, Izturis has proven more valuable as a utility player anyway. Ryan Goins provides elite defence but his glove doesnt hide his career .531 OPS in more than 300 big league plate appearances. Steve Tolleson is out of options in 2015 and hes best served in a platoon because he struggles badly against right-handed pitching. The wild card is 23-year-old Devon Travis, who the Jays acquired from Detroit for Anthony Gose last month. He was ranked as the Tigers top prospect at the time of the deal and has high offensive upside. The problem is Travis hasnt played higher than Double-A and so its unsafe to assume hell be ready to break camp. ' ' '