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BOSTON -- Michael Pineda says he was just trying to get a better grip on the ball. Now, he wont need one for a while. A day after being caught using pine tar on the mound, the New York Yankees pitcher was suspended for 10 games by the commissioners office on Thursday. Pineda said he wont appeal, costing him two starts before he can return May 5 at the Los Angeles Angels. "I accept it," Pineda said before Thursday nights game at Fenway Park. "I know I made a mistake." Pineda was ejected in the second inning of New Yorks 5-1 loss to Boston after umpires found the pine tar on the right side of the right-handers neck. After the game, Pineda admitted that he used the pine tar to help him grip the ball on a cool, windy night. "I feel so bad," he said Thursday. Pineda said he had never used pine tar before this season. He spent his first season in the majors with the Seattle Mariners in 2011, then missed the last two with the Yankees following right shoulder surgery. "I think he understood" the seriousness of his action, said Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who expected a suspension of about 10 games, "but I think he got caught up in the moment of competing and it got the best of him." Girardi indicated David Phelps would take Pinedas turn in the rotation. Phelps came into the game with two outs in the second after Pineda was ejected. The ejection set off a debate in the baseball world about pitchers who try pine tar, and whether it should be allowed in certain circumstances. Many former aces said they had done it, albeit in a more discreet manner. "Ive seen a lot of things in my career, so Im not blind to it" being viewed as part of baseball, said Girardi, a former catcher in his seventh year as Yankees manager. Rule 8.02(b) prohibits pitchers from altering the ball to gain an unfair advantage, and forbids them from having a foreign substance on them or in their possession on the mound. "I wouldnt be against coming up with an idea" to modify the rule so pitchers could get a better grip on the ball in cold weather, Girardi said. "It would be a great time for someone to start looking at" finding one substance pitchers would be allowed to use. Pineda wasnt seen with the pine tar in the first inning, when the Red Sox roughed him up. Boston manager John Farrell asked plate umpire Gerry Davis to check Pineda after two fast outs the next inning. "I felt like it was a necessity to say something," Farrell said. "You know, I fully respect on a cold night youre trying to get a little bit of a grip. But when its that obvious, something has got to be said." Davis went to the mound, touched Pinedas neck and ejected him. Pineda said no one told him to use it, that he did it "by myself." Earlier this month, Pineda pitched well in a 4-1 win over the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. Television cameras showed a substance on his hand in the fourth inning -- Pineda said it was dirt, not pine tar. His hand was clean in the fifth and Farrell didnt ask for him to be checked. Pineda said he didnt use pine tar in a start against the Chicago Cubs, in between his Red Sox outings. Among other suspensions of pitchers for pine tar in the past decade, Tampa Bays Joel Peralta was penalized eight games in 2012, the Angels Brendan Donnelly 10 days in 2005 and St. Louis Julian Tavarez 10 days in 2004. The suspensions of Donnelly and Tavarez were cut to eight days after they asked the players association to appeal, and Peralta dropped his challenge with no reduction. Pineda said Thursday he didnt feel the ball well in the first inning when he allowed two runs on four hits. And he said he wanted to be careful not to hit any batters. "I know its pine tar, but the pine tar did not help me" throw harder, he said. "It helped me for feel, (get) a better grip." Red Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski understood why Pineda used the pine tar. "I dont have a problem with guys that do it," he said. "I know as a hitter, I want to get in there and know the guy has a grip. "Put it on your hat, put it on your pants, your belt, put it on your glove, whatever you have to do. You just cant do it that blatantly. That was what the biggest issue was. No one has an issue with him doing it. Its just more of the fact that its so blatant." Custom Football Jerseys . Charlottetown scored four times in the third period en route to a 5-2 win over the defending champion Halifax Mooseheads on Friday. Custom Dallas Cowboys Jerseys Cheap . The Boston Celtics hadnt played since the All-Star break. So the Suns 100-94 victory over Boston Wednesday night was an uphill affair, with Phoenix relying on balance rather than its trademark high energy. http://www.customjerseysfootball.com/. Murakami gracefully executed a double triple toe jump and a triple flip jump that put her at the top of a tightly contested race with 64.73 points, just ahead of Li Zijun of China on 62. Cheap Custom Jerseys . A rainy day saw the former champion Djokovic handle 14th-seeded Frenchman Jo- Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) under the roof on the famed Centre Court. Custom Football Jerseys Outlet . -- Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Sidney Rice tweeted an apparent goodbye after a report about his pending release. WASHINGTON -- Paul George forced Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel to leave him on the court. George took -- and made -- the key shots, to the tune of a career playoff-high 39 points. He grabbed rebounds, 12 in all. He guarded the Wizards most dangerous scorer. When there was a loose ball, it was George diving to the floor to collect it. In sum, the tireless George willed the up-and-down Pacers within one victory of a return trip to the Eastern Conference finals, playing every second of the final three quarters as Indiana erased a 19-point deficit to beat Washington 95-92 Sunday night. "I kept wanting to try to get him a rest, and he kept saying, No," Vogel said. "And usually Ill override that, but he kept making big shots, too." Roy Hibbert had 17 points and nine rebounds, continuing his recent surge after a poor-as-can-be, zero-point, zero-rebound showing in Game 1. He responded with 28 points in Game 2, then 14 in Game 3, before helping Indiana win its third consecutive game Sunday, when Hibbert said he got a motivational boost from what he called a heckling fan. "He woke me up," Hibbert said. "He said I was tired. He was saying a lot of obscenities. Im a God-fearing man, so Im not going to go ahead and say what he was saying." After dropping Game 1, the Pacers have won three in a row to go up 3-1 and can close out the best-of-seven series at home Tuesday night. Only eight teams in NBA history have blown that lead. "Weve got a chance to make something happen," said Washingtons Bradley Beal, who was hounded at the defensive end by George and worked hard to get his 20 points. Beal might be right, but Washington better figure out how to limit George, who averaged 14.5 points in Games 1 and 2, but ramped that up with 23 Friday. And he was not about to let Vogel put him on the sideline down the stretch Sunday. In all, George played 46 minutes, and he scored 28 points after halftime. "I already had it in my head that I was pretty much going to go the whole distance," George said. "There was a moment where I was pretty gassed, but that second wind kicked in." The Wizards were up 17 at halftime, thhen made it 57-38 on Nenes basket to open the third quarter.dddddddddddd But Washington showed a propensity this season for blowing double-digit leads -- the Wizards lost 11 games after being up by at least 10 points -- and again fell apart. "We never panicked," Pacers forward David West said. Georges 3 with 5 1/2 minutes left made it 85-79, and another 30 seconds later made it 85-82, giving him seven from beyond the arc, matching a franchise post-season mark held by Reggie Miller and Chuck Person. George also helped the Pacers limit the Wizards to one field goal over the final 7 1/2 minutes. John Wall gave Washington its last lead at 91-90 with about 2 minutes to go. George pushed Indiana back in front with two foul shots, and the Pacers forced a shot-clock violation. Hibbert made a 12-foot turnaround hook shot with 1:02 remaining to put the Pacers up 94-91, and sprinted down the court, his arms spread, his smile wide. Left all alone, Wall passed up an open 3-pointer, instead sending the ball to Beal, who missed a 3 try with under 50 seconds left. "Thats what the play was for, and I made the right decision," Wall said. The Pacers are playing much more like the team that pushed the Miami Heat to seven games in last seasons conference finals, and the one that earned the No. 1 seeding by going 46-13 at the start of this season. Theyre looking less like the bunch that went 10-13 down the stretch this year, then needed seven games to sneak past Atlanta in the first round. "We go through ups and downs, and highs and lows," said Hibbert, who scored two points before halftime, 15 after. Whats clear is this: When Paul is at his best, the Pacers are, too. "Paul is Paul. You know that youre going to get 150 per cent every time hes on the court," Hill said. "He knows hes the go-to guy on this team." NOTES: Georges previous post-season career best was 30 points. ... Wizards coach Randy Wittman likes to call his trio of not-yet-retired reserves -- Andre Miller, 38; Al Harrington, 34; Drew Gooden, 32 -- the "AARP group," but they helped produce a 32-2 bench scoring edge for the hosts. 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