Loney drops appeal, serves 1-game suspension

ST. PETERSBURG -- Rays first baseman James Loney dropped his appeal for the one-game suspension he received on Tuesday.

Loney reached his decision prior to Thursday night's game against the Twins.

"It's just better to take it now than if you lose your appeal and they determine when that appeal will be," Loney said. "So just might as well take it on your own terms.

"... I'm not sure if I was going to start today, anyway. So it was just kind of one of those things all the way around."

Left-hander Tommy Milone started for the Twins on Thursday night, so it's likely Loney would not have been in the starting lineup for the series finale.

Loney received a one-game suspension for making contact with home-plate umpire Paul Nauert during an argument in Saturday's 5-4 Rays victory over the A's.

After Nauert called Loney out on strikes in the sixth inning, Loney flipped his bat and slammed his helmet to the ground. Then, after Nauert ejected Loney, the veteran approached the umpire and the two touched before Loney was restrained.

Loney was also levied a $2,500 fine that was reduced to $2,000 because he dropped his appeal.