Joe Kelly‘s path back to the big leagues has hit a snag. The right-hander limped off the mound with two outs in the fifth inning with an apparent groin injury, bringing an early end to his first minor league start since the Boston Red Sox demoted him to Triple-A Pawtucket last week.
Kelly was tagged with the loss, surrendering 3 runs on 6 hits and a walk in 4 2/3 innings. The final run he allowed came on a sacrifice fly to right field, which is when Kelly appeared to injure himself as he made his way into foul territory to back up the play at the plate.