That “P’’ word. You know, P-O-T-E-N-T-I-A-L. This is what it looks like.

As in realizing it.

As in living it.

This is what happens when you get there.

On Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park, Joe Kelly provided 6? innings of pure pitching bliss. The only hit came with two outs in the seventh when the ancient Juan Uribe stroked a double to right-center. John Farrell immediately came out to take the ball because Kelly had probably gone too long for his first game back from a DL stint.

The manager seemed very pleased. He said a few words to Kelly as teammates flocked to him around the mound. Kelly needed this. The Red Sox needed this from a starting pitcher. If Clay Buchholz could just soak it in and learn, then this too could again be the scene around him.

Farrell said later that Kelly would have been done after seven innings with no regrets, no-hitter or not.

“It wasn’t like he was coming back from an ankle injury,’’ Farrell said after the Red Sox’ 9-1 win. “He was coming back from a shoulder injury. So we had to be mindful of that.’’

Kelly went on the disabled list with a shoulder impingement after leaving his April 19 start vs. Tampa Bay in the first inning at Fenway. He made three rehab starts at Pawtucket and struck out 10 vs. Norfolk in his final start there May 16.

There seemed to be a carryover because the repertoire Saturday was simply filthy. According to BrooksBaseball.net, Kelly had an average velocity of 96.2 miles per hour on his four-seam fastball and 95.2 on his two-seamer. He hit 98 m.p.h. He had a pretty severe curveball. When he didn’t get swings and misses, the barrel of the bat was off-center and the ball went nowhere. He got nine ground ball outs, and seven strikeouts.

He retired the first 13 batters. He had a wacky fifth inning where he walked three, committed a throwing error on a pickoff attempt at second base, and still got out of the inning without allowing a hit or a run.

“I just got a little bit out of my mechanics from the stretch,’’ Kelly said.

He got the final out in the fifth when he made a nice stab of Chris Gimenez’s tapper and threw to the plate. The throw was a little wild, but Ryan Hanigan did an acrobatic act to catch the ball and get his foot on the plate ahead of a sliding Carlos Santana for the inning’s final out.

On Uribe’s hit to break up the no-hitter, “I threw one down the middle to Uribe and he hit a double,’’ Kelly said. “He never gets cheated on the fastball.’’

Kelly credited the rehab work he did while on the disabled list for having more arm strength than he’s had in a long time. He said he had the ability to “extend on my fastball.’’ Kelly said he will have to continue on those strengthening exercises — which he called too complicated to talk about — throughout the rest of the season in hopes that will help keep him in the rotation.

“Overall command of my fastball on both sides of the plate felt super strong,’’ Kelly said. “All the work I’ve put in since going on the DL and getting the shoulder stronger enabled me to get more extension.’’

Kelly might have caught a break when Eduardo Rodriguez suffered a setback because the lefthander surely would have been the fifth man in the Sox’ rotation. Now, Kelly has some breathing room, and if Rodriguez does come back, Buchholz is likely in peril of losing a rotation spot.

Kelly said he would have understood coming out of a no-hitter.

“I saw my pitch count climbing up. I’m not stupid,’’ said Kelly, who threw 104 pitches. “The first time out off DL, I wasn’t going to overdo it.

“That was a fun team win. Mookie [Betts] with his big day and Jackie [Bradley Jr.] keeping that streak going was great. We played great defense. All around, a feel-good win from pitching to bullpen to our offense. It was fun to watch and be a part of.’’

Bradley made a nice catch on a sinking liner by Marlon Byrd with one out in the seventh that saved the no-hitter.

“He’s the best outfielder in the big leagues,’’ Kelly said of Bradley. “He always makes great plays. Great jumps. I was trying my best to get a first-pitch out. I knew I wasn’t going to be going much longer.’’

The win extended Kelly’s winning streak to 10 games (over 13 starts) since Aug.?1. He’s 7-0 in eight starts during the streak at home.

He received a standing ovation when he left the mound.

“It was great to hear,’’ Kelly said. “We have the best fans in baseball. We sell out every game and to get a standing ovation like that was a great feeling.’’

His manager said, “He carried his power from the first pitch to his last. He was able to create velocity in a consistent manner. He gave us a chance to give us a boost with his abilities.’’

For sure, this was one of the best games Kelly has ever pitched. Now the tough part is staying consistent and staying healthy, two things that have not been easy for the righthander.

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickcafardo.