ST. PETERSBURG -- Royals right-hander Brad Keller has dropped the appeal of his five-game suspension from Major League Baseball and he began serving the suspension on Tuesday.

Keller will be eligible to be reinstated on Monday, and manager Ned Yost said he expects Keller to make his next start then.

Keller was suspended after an incident during the Royals-White Sox game on Wednesday, when Keller threw a pitch that hit Chicago shortstop Tim Anderson on his backside. Anderson had homered earlier in the game and he made a rather dramatic bat flip before beginning his home run trot.

Keller also was fined an undisclosed amount. As for the appeal, Keller said on Tuesday that he simply didn’t want to drag the process out any longer.

“It’s over with and I didn’t want to wait around [any longer],” Keller said. “I figured I would just drop it now and serve the suspension and move on.

Keller pitched on Monday night in the Royals’ 6-3 loss to the Rays.

“I’ll get an extra day of rest and be ready to go next Monday,” Keller said.

Yost indicated his rotation for the weekend would go like this: left-hander Danny Duffy will be activated from the injured list and pitch on Friday, right-hander Jorge Lopez will pitch on Saturday, right-hander Home Bailey will pitch on Sunday.

Dozier’s back

Royals third baseman Hunter Dozier continues to battle back spasms that forced his removal from Monday’s game after he had two hits, including a home run.

Yost said Dozier is available on an emergency basis on Tuesday and Wednesday, but the plan is to rest him through Thursday’s off-day.

“That way we can get him three days of rest to calm that situation down,” Yost said.