OAKLAND, Calif. -- Boston pitcher Frank Castillo was suspended for five games for hitting a batter and teammate Trot Nixon was suspended for four for throwing his bat during a game against Tampa Bay on Sunday.

	Castillo

	Nixon

Both also were fined Tuesday by Bob Watson, baseball's vice president in charge of discipline, as was Devil Rays pitcher Ryan Rupe.

Watson said Rupe intentionally hit Nomar Garciaparra and Shea Hillenbrand with pitches.

The Major League Baseball Players Association appealed, meaning the suspensions cannot start until after a hearing before Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer.

"I'm a little bit upset, but there's not a whole lot we can do," Red Sox manager Grady Little said. "We'll go through the process of appeal. Until then, there's not a whole lot we can say."

Rupe and Devil Rays manager Hal McRae said they were surprised by the penalties, especially considering there were no ejections or verbal confrontations between the teams.

"It is unusual, but that's the decision," McRae said. "We weren't upset about anything. There was no screaming or hollering from either side of the field."

Rupe denied that he intentionally threw at Garciaparra or Hillenbrand, who had hit a pinch-hit grand slam home run to win the previous night's game.

"My intentions were not to hurt anyone or hit anyone," Rupe said, adding that he didn't think Nixon and Castillo should have been suspended for their actions.

"It looks cheap that they got suspended and I didn't. If we were going head-to-head, I don't see why they would get suspended and I wouldn't."

Rupe hit Garciaparra and Hillenbrand with pitches in the first inning. In the second, Nixon swung and missed at a pitch, losing his grip on his bat, which sailed to the right of the mound.

"All I know is the bat slipped out of my hand. I didn't purposely let it go," Nixon said Tuesday night before Boston's game against Oakland. "I'm not out there trying to hurt anyone. I don't have to do that to prove anything. Nobody does that intentionally."

Two innings later, Castillo hit Winn in the hip and plate umpire Dan Iassogna issued a warning to both dugouts. There were no more incidents after that.

Rupe insisted he was struggling with his command in the first inning. He threw a wild pitch that struck Iassogna in the left wrist during Garciaparra's at-bat, and the right-hander noted that he struck out Manny Ramirez with a high, inside pitch that he intended to throw on the outside of the plate.

"If it had been the fourth or fifth inning and I hit them, then yes. But in the first inning, I was all over the place," Rupe said. "I think the media kind of drove that. I don't think that game was that out of hand. I mean I smoked two in the first, but it's not like I hadn't hit anyone all year."

Going into Tuesday night's games, Rupe and Boston's Pedro Martinez had both hit a major league-leading five batters.

"The only think I can do is appeal it, that's it," Castillo said.