Clemens won't appeal suspension

Roger Clemens declined to appeal his five-game suspension and started serving the penalty when the New York Yankees played Cleveland on Friday night.

The suspension and a $1,500 fine were imposed Thursday by Major League Baseball vice president Bob Watson after Clemens hit Toronto's Alex Rios with a pitch this week. Yankees manager Joe Torre was served his one-game suspension on Friday.

Cubs reportedly claim Podsednik: Scott Podsednik helped the Chicago White Sox end a long championship drought. He may soon be in position to do the same for the Cubs.

The Chicago Tribune, citing a major league source, reported on its Web site that the Cubs claimed Podsednik on waivers. The White Sox had two business days to work out a trade with the Cubs, simply let him go to the North Side team or pull him off waivers.

Padres put Brocail on bereavement list, Hairston on DL: The San Diego Padres placed righty reliever Doug Brocail on the bereavement list and put outfielder Scott Hairston on the 15-day disabled list.

To fill the spots, San Diego recalled left-hander Joe Thatcher and purchased the contract of righty Jack Cassel from Triple-A Portland.

Alos, the Padres will place catcher Michael Barrett on the 15-day disabled list today after hurting his head sliding into second base Friday against the Reds. The Padres will purchase the contract of Pat Laforest from Triple-A Portland to fill Barrett's spot on the roster.

American pitcher becomes first player to fail drug test in Japan: A former Triple-A pitcher from California has become the first player in Japanese baseball history to flunk a drug test.

Rick Guttormson, who played in the San Diego and Seattle minor league systems, was suspended for 20 days Friday after testing positive for a banned substance. His team, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, was fined $63,000.

Japanese baseball officials said a postgame test July 13 showed Finasteride in Guttormson's system. Finasteride was in a hair-growing agent the 30-year-old Guttormson had been taking for two years. It's banned because it can be used as a masking agent.

Guttormson, from Torrance, no major league experience.

Backman reinstated as manager: Wally Backman will get another crack at the Peanuts.

Three days after the volatile manager resigned, the independent South Coast League decided Backman could return to the South Georgia Peanuts. Backman, who had several run-ins this year, asked for his job after packing his pickup truck, hitching his RV and getting set to drive home to Oregon.