Royals catcher Miguel Olivo opted not to fight baseball&rsquo;s hierarchy. </p><p>He received a one-game suspension and a $1,500 fine for actions stemming from his ejection Saturday for arguing a check-swing call with umpire Phil Cuzzi in a 6-2 loss at Pittsburgh.</p><p>Olivo served the suspension Wednesday when the Royals concluded a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins with a 5-1 loss at Kauffman Stadium.</p><p>&ldquo;I thought about appealing,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but you never win with that. If I appeal it, it&rsquo;s just going to be delayed. That&rsquo;s why I decided to take it today and have it over with.&rdquo;</p><p>Brayan Pe&ntilde;a started Wednesday at catcher, while first baseman Mike Jacobs and outfielder Mitch Maier, former catchers, served as backups.</p><p>The Royals played with 24 active players because rules require teams to operate with a shortened roster when a player is suspended.</p><p>The suspension and fine was levied by Bob Watson, who serves as Major League Baseball&rsquo;s vice president for on-field operations. Watson cited Olivo for &ldquo;making contact&rdquo; with Cuzzi in levying the penalty.</p><p>&ldquo;If you review the video tape,&rdquo; manager Trey Hillman said, &ldquo;it does surprise me. I didn&rsquo;t feel it was intentional contact. I felt it was a body-position thing. It wasn&rsquo;t a bump. It was a graze.&rdquo;</p><p>Olivo was ejected in the ninth inning Saturday for arguing when Cuzzi failed to seek help from first-base umpire Tom Hallion, the crew chief, on a check-swing third strike.</p><p>&ldquo;When he kicked me out,&rdquo; Olivo said, &ldquo;I hadn&rsquo;t said anything to offend him. I just asked him why he wouldn&rsquo;t check (with Hallion). He said, &lsquo;Don&rsquo;t make me ruin your day.&rsquo; And I said, &lsquo;Well, that&rsquo;s a (bad) call.&rsquo; And he kicked me out.&rdquo;</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Gordon to play in Omaha</span></strong></p><p>Omaha expects a big crowd Friday when third baseman Alex Gordon joins the club to continue his recovery from April 17 surgery to repair torn cartilage in his right hip.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be interesting to see just how many additional tickets we sell,&rdquo; O-Royals general manager Martie Cordaro told the Omaha World-Herald, &ldquo;or how many fewer no-shows we have that could be attributed to him.&rdquo;</p><p>Gordon grew up in nearby Lincoln, Neb., and was an All-American at Nebraska prior to his selection by the Royals with the second overall pick in the 2005 draft. He has never played professionally in Omaha.</p><p>This figures to be a one-game stay because the O-Royals are departing Saturday for a nine-game trip to Oklahoma City and New Orleans. Gordon is tentatively scheduled to shift his rehab assignment next week to Class AA Northwest Arkansas and to return to active duty after the All-Star break. </p><p>&bull;Hillman said John Buck could return from the disabled list by the end of the week or early next week after catching all nine innings Tuesday for Class AAA Omaha in its 9-0 victory over Albuquerque.</p><p>Buck is five games into a rehab playing assignment in his recovery from a herniated disk that occurred May 30 against the White Sox at Kauffman Stadium. He is five for 19 for the O-Royals.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Mahay feeling better</span></strong></p><p>Veteran lefty Ron Mahay worked a one-two-three ninth inning that marked his first appearance since June 21. He spent much of the last week recovering from a nasty case of the flu.</p><p>&ldquo;Everything felt good out there,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I started to work out again Monday. That&rsquo;s when I began to get my strength back.&rdquo;</p><p>Mahay began feeling woozy a week ago on the team flight from Houston to Pittsburgh and spent much of the weekend in bed.