After almost a month on the disabled list to rest a sore hamstring, flame-throwing reliever Joe Kelly returned to the Red Sox last night.
Right-hander Austin Maddox was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket to make room for Kelly, who has a 1.49 ERA this season.
"It's feeling better,” Kelly said. “I went down to Pawtucket and threw my one inning. There was no setbacks, and I felt good after that. I took these past few days off, now getting activated today.
“Every single step I've done so far has been a little bit more intensity — from flat ground to bullpen to live BP to the one rehab appearance to now this.