Kelly thrilled by power in shoulder

BOSTON — The flirtation with a no-hitter was Joe Kelly’s second favorite thing about his return to the mound on Saturday. What made this a truly special day for Kelly was the sustained power he felt in his right arm throughout a 9-1 victory over the Indians.

It was confirmation that Kelly’s hard work with the trainers in strengthening his right shoulder paid off in a big way.

“Overall command of the fastball was very big today,” said Kelly. “I was throwing it to both sides of the plate. I just felt super strong out there. All the work we’ve been putting in since I went on the DL of getting the shoulder stronger in the training room, it’s just good to go out there and not even think about it and get a little more extension on the fastball and all the other pitches with that strong shoulder.”

For the record, Kelly had a no-hitter for 6 2/3 innings until Juan Uribe spoiled it with a double into the gap in right-center. It should also be noted that Kelly was coming out of the game after seven innings regardless.

The pitch to Uribe was Kelly’s 104th of the day — 12 more than he had thrown in his final Minor League rehab start five days ago.

“No, he was going to be done after the seventh,” said Red Sox manager John Farrell. “You got to put a personal accomplishment — he came back to us not because of a sprained ankle, it was a shoulder injury. So you got to take that certainly into …

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