BOSTON -- The Red Sox will be without the services of key setup man Matt Barnes for the next four games, as the right-hander elected to drop the appeal of his suspension prior to Wednesday's game against the Yankees.
Red Sox manager John Farrell made the announcement at his pregame news briefing.
Barnes will be eligible to return for Sunday night's finale of a three-game series against the Cubs.
With an off-day on Monday followed by a postponement on Tuesday, the Red Sox at least entered Wednesday's game with a fresh bullpen, albeit a pitcher short without Barnes.
Barnes received a four-game suspension for throwing a pitch near the head of Orioles third baseman Manny Machado on Sunday. The relief pitcher initially announced he was appealing the suspension, but had a change of heart.
It was believed Barnes threw the pitch high and inside to Machado because the Orioles infielder slid into Dustin Pedroia in Friday's game. Pedroia said he did not think Machado slid with malicious intent. Wednesday marked the third straight game Pedroia was out of the lineup due to left knee and ankle soreness as a result of the slide.

"Dustin's a great teammate," Barnes said on Tuesday. "Everybody in this clubhouse has one another's back. It's a strong unit in there. I've got his back, he's got mine. I've got 24 other guys in this clubhouse, we're all sticking together, we're a unit."
Barnes (2-0, 3.60 ERA) has taken hold of the setup role for Boston, and the team will have to shuffle around its bullpen to fill the void for the next four games. More responsibility will fall on Richard Hembree and Joe Kelly while Barnes is out.
The Red Sox and Orioles will start a four-game series at Fenway Park on Monday.