BOSTON — New York Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda was suspended for 10 games Thursday after being caught using pine tar. He said he won't appeal the penalty that will cost him two starts.

“I accept it,” Pineda said before Thursday night's game at Fenway Park. “I know I made a mistake.”

The commissioner's office announced the ban, which started immediately.

A woman who said Cincinnati Reds pitcher Alfredo Simon sexually assaulted her in a Washington hotel a year ago when the team was in town to play the Nationals is suing the player for $15 million.The woman, identified as Jane Doe, filed the civil lawsuit Thursday in D.C. Superior Court. The suit says she met Simon at a nightclub and went with him by cab to the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel where, she claims, he forced sex upon her.Adam Katz, Simon's agent, said he had no comment when reached by phone.

EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern University's football players will cast ballots today on whether to form the nation's first union for college athletes — a potentially landmark vote that will be kept sealed for months and possibly years.The National Labor Relations Board said Thursday it will hear an appeal by Northwestern challenging the decision from a regional NLRB director who ruled the players are university employees and thus have the right to unionize.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Pack up the pom-poms in Buffalo, because the Bills will be playing without the support of their official cheerleaders this year.Stephanie Mateczun, whose company manages the Buffalo Jills cheerleading squad, said she has suspended operations through at least the end of the season. The decision was made two days after five former Jills filed a lawsuit complaining they worked hundreds of hours for free, and were subjected to groping and sexual comments.

CLEVELAND — Former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar believes he has been unfairly sacked as a TV broadcaster.Kosar has been removed as a color commentator for Cleveland's preseason games by the team. The Browns said Wednesday night he was being replaced by Solomon Wilcots, who will work with play-by-play announcer Jim Donovan.Kosar contends he's been removed because of slurred speech he attributes to “a direct result of the many concussions I received while playing in the NFL.”

AVONDALE, La. — Ben Martin treated a tiny gallery to a course-record round, shooting a 10-under 62 in the first round of the Zurich Classic.Martin’s 10th birdie was his most spectacular shot in a round full of them as he chipped in from 55 feet on the par-3 17th hole.