Barnes tossed three scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out two in Wednesday night's 11-7 win over the Giants.
The Red Sox were on the verge of blowing an eight-run lead when Barnes entered in the sixth inning with the bases loaded, no outs, and Boston clinging to an 8-7 lead. He got a double-play grounder and foul out to extricate the Red Sox from that jam, then held the Giants at bay the next two innings. The outing continues a nice stretch for the right-hander, who has a 1.56 ERA with a 17:2 K:BB over his last 12 appearances, spanning 17.1 innings. As the Red Sox cope with injuries in the bullpen, Barnes has earned the confidence and trust of manager John Farrell. He may not get any save opportunities while Craig Kimbrel (knee) and Koji Uehara (pectoral muscle) are out -- Brad Ziegler is the primary closer while they rehab -- but Barnes has earned a chance to pitch in high-leverage situations.