Brayan Bello Boosts Red Sox In Bounce Back Start

After nearly six weeks of pure dominance, Brayan Bello hit a rough patch of starts for the Red Sox in recent outings.

Entering his start on Monday, Bello was 1-1 with a 9.75 ERA in 16 innings in his previous three appearances with five home runs allowed. The 24-year-old needed a solid start to open the four-game series against the Kansas City Royals to get both himself and his team back on track after being swept by the Toronto Blue Jays.

The young right-hander did just that on Monday, tossing 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Bello earned a no-decision before the Red Sox came out with a walk-off 6-2 victory.

While the righty did not rack up the strikeouts, he pitched effectively with a much improved sinker to force 11 groundouts and kept the ball in the ballpark.

“The first inning was slow,” Bello said through a translator, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “The body wasn’t feeling great. After the first inning, the body got in a rhythm and we got almost seven (innings). Good outing for me today.”

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said he saw the improvements from the young starter that translated into a competitive outing.

“Good stuff,” Cora said on Bello’s outing, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Energy-wise, he was slow early on. Little by little, he gained energy. Got moving inside and did a good job.”

With the Red Sox in desperate need of a win, their young ace gave his club a chance to do just that.

“Overall, what we needed,” Cora added. “A deep outing and a good one.”