Barnes returned from a personal leave and threw a scoreless ninth inning in Sunday's 7-3 win over the Orioles. He allowed one hit and struck out the final batter.

EDGE Analysis

Barnes had been away from the team Friday and Saturday while tending to a family matter. He was the team's de facto closer Sunday with Craig Kimbrel unavailable after throwing 33 pitches Saturday, but Boston pushed across a run in the top of the ninth to make it a four-run lead and negate the need for a save.

Barnes (personal) is expected to be back with Boston for Sunday's series finale against the Orioles, Chad Jennings of the Boston Herald reports.

EDGE Analysis

Barnes had been away from the team, missing games Friday and Saturday while attending to a family matter. While he's been away, Joe Kelly has replaced him as the designated setup man.

Barnes was unavailable out of the bullpen Friday and will likely miss Saturday's game while attending to a family matter, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

The Red Sox will miss Barnes, who has been one of the most consistent arms out of the bullpen this season and has allowed just three earned runs over his last 10.2 innings. Look for him to return to the team as soon as possible.

Barnes (3-2) allowed two runs on three hits while striking out two in Monday's 5-4 loss to the White Sox.

EDGE Analysis

Barnes, who entered the game having thrown six consecutive scoreless outings, had difficulty with Chicago's bottom third of the order. He yielded a leadoff triple to Yolmer Sanchez on a 1-2 curveball and a double to Kevan Smith that knotted the game. Melky Cabrera later fisted a single behind second base to knock in the go-ahead run. Despite giving up the lead and a possible win for David Price, who had an encouraging 2017 debut after dealing with elbow soreness since February, Barnes should remain a high-leverage reliever for the Red Sox.

Barnes pitched a scoreless eighth inning as the bridge to closer Craig Kimbrel in Friday's 3-0 win over Seattle.

EDGE Analysis

Barnes has served as the eighth-inning bridge to Kimbrel the last two games. Manager John Farrell's confidence in Barnes wavered a bit when the right-hander had a rough stretch through late April and early May, but he's been dominant the past two weeks. Since May 14, Barnes has pitched 6.1 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts and no walks.

Barnes allowed two hits and struck out five over two innings in Thursday's 8-3 loss to the Athletics.

EDGE Analysis

Barnes had been elevated to the eighth-inning reliever earlier this season, but hadn't pitched dependably since that promotion. Of late, manager John Farrell has been going by feel and matchups in high-leverage spots. Barnes' two-inning stint Thursday was the best he's looked in a month. He threw 29 of his 39 pitches for strikes, a promising sign for the right-hander who is at a career-low 59.6 strike percentage this season. Barnes will return to high-leverage duty if he can keep the ball in the zone.

Barnes, who has allowed four runs in 2.2 innings over his last five games, has been working on the side to fix his delivery, Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

Manager John Farrell said it looks like Barnes' delivery is out of sync, specifically his body is getting out ahead of him, resulting in faulty command. He had been elevated to the eighth-inning role early in the season after not allowing a run in his first seven outings, but has allowed eight runs on nine hits and five walk over eight innings since. This has Farrell looking at Joe Kelly as a possible setup guy.

Barnes (3-0) completed his four-game suspension Sunday and pitched a scoreless inning to earn the win in Boston's 6-2 victory over the Cubs.

EDGE Analysis

The Red Sox pieced together the eighth inning while Barnes was out of action but he was back to being the setup guy for closer Craig Kimbrel on Sunday. As it turned out, the Red Sox scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth, giving him the win and negating the save opportunity for Kimbrel. The right-hander's return coincides with the Orioles arrival at Fenway Park for a four-game set beginning Monday. As you may recall, it was Barnes' wayward pitch to Baltimore's Manny Machado, in retaliation for a perceived reckless slide, that got him suspended.

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

EDGE 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.

Barnes was suspended four games for intentionally throwing at Manny Machado, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

Barnes will immediately appeal the suspension, so he won't have to sit out until a verdict is given. He'll likely have to miss a few games eventually, though the exact number should be known in the near future.