WASHINGTON — Rockies all-star third baseman Nolan Arenado is out of the lineup Saturday against the Nationals as he begins serving his five-game suspension for throwing punches in Wednesday’s brawl between Colorado and the Padres.

Arenado initially appealed, so he was able to play in Friday night’s 2-1 victory over the Nationals, but he then dropped his appeal and will serve the full five games of his suspension. He’ll miss the final two games of the series in Washington, as well as the three-game series at Pittsburgh which begins Monday.

The good news for the Rockies is that center fielder Charlie Blackmon was back in the starting lineup Saturday after missing four games because of a tight right quadriceps muscle.

Arenado, batting .288 with one home run in the early going, will not face the Nationals’ two best pitchers — Max Scherzer on Saturday, and Stephen Strasburg on Sunday.

Rookie Ryan McMahon, who has been the club’s main backup at first base, started at third base Saturday. McMahon has just one hit in 20 at-bats. Related Articles Rockies’ bullpen gives up three in the seventh in 5-2 loss to Giants

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Colorado outfielder Gerardo Parra, who was handed a four-game suspension, will remain active until Arenado’s suspension is complete. The Rockies cannot call up a player from the minors to replace a player on the 25-man big-league roster.

Friday, Major League Baseball handed out discipline for Wednesday’s melee between the Rockies and Padres at Coors Field. In addition to Arenado’s suspension for charging the mound and throwing punches, Padres starting pitcher Luis Perdomo received a five-game suspension for intentionally throwing a pitch at Arenado to open the third inning. Perdomo also threw his glove at Arenado when Arenado came charging after him.

Parra received his four-game suspension for fighting during the incident, while Padres pitcher Buddy Baumann has received a one-game suspension. Perdomo, Arenado, Parra and Baumann all received undisclosed fines in addition to their suspensions.

The players who were fined for their actions during the brawl but not suspended were catcher A.J. Ellis and infielder Freddy Galvis of the Padres, and Rockies starting pitcher German Márquez. Marquez, who got in the middle of the melee and was ejected, didn’t throw a punch, but he did throw a towel.