Red Sox's Matt Barnes: Begins serving suspension Wednesday

Barnes dropped his appeal and will start serving his four-game suspension Wednesday against the Yankees, the Boston Globe's Alex Speier reports.

Analysis:

He will be eligible to return to action Sunday against the Cubs after serving the suspension he received for throwing at Manny Machado's head as retaliation for a slide that injured Dustin Pedroia. Barnes has a 3.60 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 11 strikeouts in 10 innings. Craig Kimbrel remains the Red Sox's closer, but with Barnes and Tyler Thornburg (shoulder) out, Heath Hembree, Joe Kelly and Robbie Ross should see more high-leverage looks.