Brandon Lyon exercised the opt-out clause in his contract and was granted his release from the Red Sox's Triple-A affiliate, the minor-league club announced. Lyon, 33, did so after learning there wasn't a spot available for him in the major league team's bullpen, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal tweets.
Lyon logged 5 1/3 innings with 1.69 ERA for the Pawtucket Red Sox since inking a minor-league deal in July. He's already seen significant time in the majors with the Mets this season, and was excellent in his first 31 1/3 innings, posting a 3.16 ERA. However, he proceeded to give up eight runs in his next three innings, prompting the Mets to designate him for assignment shortly thereafter. In 681 1/3 major league innings, Lyon owns a 4.16 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9.