WASHINGTON -- With the Pirates having a couple of days off in the upcoming week and the feeling there was little chance he would have his sentence reduced, Pirates pitcher Chris Archer dropped his appeal of a five-game suspension for throwing at the Reds' Derek Dietrich last Sunday.
Archer said he spoke with his agent and didn't feel Major League Baseball's chief baseball officer, Joe Torre, would shorten his suspension.
"I think it's just what's best for the team," Archer said Sunday morning before the Pirates concluded their three-game series against the Nationals. "We won't have to make a move. I'm only getting pushed back one day from what I normally would start. Not that I agree with it, but it's the best thing to do for the team."
Archer touched off a bench-clearing incident when he threw a 93-mph fastball behind Dietrich’s waist in the fourth inning. Two innings earlier, Dietrich had stood at home plate and admired a 436-foot home run off Archer that cleared the Clemente Wall and bounced into the Allegheny River.
Cincinnati manager David Bell came off the bench to argue when both benches were given warnings following the pitch and things escalated from there, with Bell and Reds outfielder Yasiel Puig both getting ejected. Puig drew a two-game suspension, while Bell was issued a one-game ban.
"Basically, since I instigated the benches to clear, that was the reason," Archer said. "If the benches wouldn't have cleared, it might be a different verdict. That's just what it is.
"They don't want guys fighting. The game will police itself to a certain degree, but they don't want guys coming out there and fighting. I wasn't the one fighting, but it is what it is. I understand that they're trying to keep people safe, so I'm going to do it and it benefits the team."
The ironic part is that Archer didn't actually hit Dietrich. His pitch went behind the Reds outfielder.
"That's the interesting part," Archer said. "That's what they came up with. They're not going to budge."
Archer will be suspended with pay, but has been fined. He can work out with the team before games and on off days, but it not permitted to be in the dugout or clubhouse when games begin.
With Archer having his next start pushed back a day -- he would have been scheduled to pitch again next Saturday -- Clint Hurdle juggled his rotation slightly. Joe Musgrove will start Tuesday in Detroit, while Trevor Williams will pitch the second game of the two-game series. The Pirates are off Monday and Thursday this week.
Jordan Lyles, who last pitched April 10 in Chicago, will have his start pushed back to keep Musgrove and Williams on schedule. He will start Friday, with Jameson Taillon pitching next Saturday before Archer returns.
"It wouldn't make any sense to skip him in my eyes right now," Hurdle said of Lyles, who is 1-0 with a 0.82 ERA in his first two starts as the Pirates' fifth starter.
"With the two off days, we did some shuffling of the rotation to try to keep the collateral damage and time away to a minimum."
Archer was coming off a strong start in Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Nationals in which he pitched seven innings, allowing just four hits and one run while striking out nine.