What a wild ride the 2018 season has been for Joe Kelly.
From early-season flashes of brilliance, to a folkloric donnybrook with the Yankees' Tyler Austin, to a summer-long slump and rounding back into form with the changing of the leaves, the Red Sox reliever is doing his best pitching of the season when it's mattered the most. Wednesday night was another inning of perfection, throwing up all zeroes and two strikeouts before giving way to Nathan Eovaldi in the eighth inning, as Boston won 4-2.
In six appearances this postseason, Kelly is 1-1 with a 1.23 ERA, striking out seven batters in as many innings.
"It's been fun," Kelly said. "Just playing good baseball as a team all-around, obviously winning, trying to attain that goal we set early in spring training of getting to the World Series and see what happens. So to be able to contribute and not stink is refreshing."
Simply put, Kelly's movement in this World Series has left many a Dodger batter studying:
"We had that guy early in the season and then he struggled throughout the middle of the season," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said following Wednesday's win. "In September he made some adjustments and the stuff started playing again. But in October he's been lights out. Breaking balls for strikes, good fastball, good changeup. Presence on the mound.
"I'm happy for him. He's been tested the whole season. At one point he went from being the guy in the seventh, eighth inning to just a guy in the bullpen. And now he's back to the equation. When Joey is throwing strikes with all his pitches, he might be one of the toughest relievers in the Big Leagues because his stuff is that good."
Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Celtics easily on your device.
