Brayan Bello Focuses On Adjustments In Red Sox Loss

Brayan Bello took the ball for the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night looking to turn the tides of the series against the Houston Astros.

The Astros got to Bello in the first inning. Alex Bregman took advantage of a hittable pitch on the inner half with a solo shot over the Green Monster for a 1-0 Houston lead. One batter later, Yordan Álvarez roped a line shot just inside the right field foul pole to double the advantage.

From there, Bello settled down and pitched well with his sinker jumping up to 97 mph and improved movement on his breaking ball.

The Astros took advantage of another extra chance in the fifth inning after a few erroneous throws from Boston's infield. Bregman struck again with an RBI single to extend the lead to 3-1.

Bello came out of the game after just 82 pitches with the Red Sox bullpen slowly working back after a tiring week. The righty posted 4 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and three runs, two earned, with two walks and two strikeouts.

"He gave us enough," Alex Cora said on Bello's outing, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "We put ourselves in a bad spot by not making plays."

"I felt good," Bello said, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "I feel good besides those two pitches in the first inning. My body felt good. My arm felt good. I thought my pitches had good movement."

A week after tossing seven brilliant innings in Houston last Thursday, the talented Astros lineup made adjustments to do enough against the young Boston righty.

"It's always very difficult, but I thought I did a pretty good job of adjusting," Bello explained. "Just trying to make good pitches. Outside of what happened in the fifth inning, I thought the outing was really good for me."

Bello continuing to earn experience in his starts is a season-long priority that has more emphasis down the stretch. With star potential, working through growing pains with all types of outings is essential for the right-hander's development.

"He's learning at this level and he's put on a good season," Cora said. "The more he pitches, the better it is for him and for us."