Hundley Decides Not to Appeal

Catcher Todd Hundley dropped his appeal of the three-game suspension and $2,500 fine he received for his part in brawl with the Seattle Mariners July 11 at Dodger Stadium.

Hundley had an appeal hearing tentatively scheduled for Aug. 6 but began serving the suspension Thursday. He missed both games of the doubleheader against the Colorado Rockies and will also sit out tonight’s game in Arizona against the Diamondbacks.

The Dodgers convinced Hundley, who bats left-handed, to drop the appeal with the team facing a string of matchups against left-handed starters and rookie catcher Angel Pena playing well.

The Dodgers faced Colorado left-handers Bobby Jones and Brian Bohanon on Thursday and are scheduled to see Diamondback left-handers Omar Daal, Brian Anderson and Randy Johnson in Phoenix. They are scheduled to face Cincinnati Red left-hander Ron Villone on Monday at Dodger Stadium.

Outfielder Trenidad Hubbard will be Pena’s backup until Hundley returns. Hubbard caught the final three innings of the July 11 game against the Mariners after Hundley was ejected and Pena was injured.

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Right-hander Jamie Arnold has also considered dropping his appeal of a four-game suspension.

Arnold, normally a reliever, started the second game of the doubleheader Thursday and gave up seven runs and eight hits on 61 pitches in three-plus innings. If he had gone further, he probably would not have been available for four days anyway after making the start.

Manager Davey Johnson, however, said before the game that he probably will need Arnold in the bullpen in Arizona.

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Thursday’s doubleheader was the first at Dodger Stadium since the Dodgers played three consecutive doubleheaders July 6-8, 1992, against the Montreal Expos when three games were postponed because of riots that followed the verdicts in the Rodney King trial. It was also the Dodgers’ first doubleheader since Aug. 25, 1997 at Pittsburgh. . . . The Dodgers’ season-high streak of nine games without an error ended in the first inning of the second game Thursday when second baseman Eric Young bounced a throw past first base trying to turn a double play on a ground ball hit to short by Vinny Castilla.