Red Sox Notes: Brayan Bello Shows Growth In Tough Situations

The Red Sox came away with a 6-4 victory over the Mariners following the Major League Baseball trade deadline on Tuesday.

Boston entered the contest losers of three straight and despite some bumps on the mound for starter Brayan Bello, the Red Sox didn’t slip in Seattle. But that effort in staying resilient began with Bello putting aside the frustrations of the Mariners’ lineup attacking throughout the night.

“He didn’t get too frustrated in the first inning,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Usually, sometimes you see him screaming at himself and all that. Getting upset and he loses control. But he remained calm, made some great pitches in the first inning, and for me, that was the game. … For being such a young kid, it seems like whenever he’s in trouble, stuff gets better.”

Bello tossed six innings on the mound and allowed four earned runs off eight hits while striking out seven Seattle hitters.

“He grinded today,” Cora said. “His stuff wasn’t as great as in the last start against Atlanta (Braves) but he gave us six (innings). That’s a tough lineup. (Ty) France put some good swings on him, but overall, gave us a chance to win and the bullpen did a great job.”

That same level of grind that Bello presented remained in place, regardless of who took the mound out of the bullpen for Boston. Josh Winckowski, perhaps most notably, escaped what could’ve easily been a costly game-changing jam after a Triston Casas error gave Seattle runners at second and third with nobody out in the eighth inning. Winckowski ended up getting out of that situation unscathed.

Most importantly, the Red Sox helped their cause in the American League wild card race, improving to just 1 1/2 games back from a playoff spot.

Here are more notes from Tuesday’s Red Sox-Mariners game:

— Jarren Duran took ownership of the AL lead in doubles (32) after going 1-for-5 at the plate and securing an impressive sliding catch in the outfield.

— Reese McGuire, who hadn’t played for the Red Sox since June 21, made a difference in his first game back from injury, going 1-for-3 with a solo home run.

“He’s a good player,” Cora said. “There’s a reason he’s here. He worked hard to get back and getting a chance today. Put two good at-bats so that was good for us.’

— Kenley Jansen closed the door in the ninth and recorded his 24th save of the season. With 415 total in his career, Jansen is now eight saves shy of surpassing Billy Wagner for sixth place on the MLB’s all-time saves list.

— Boston improved to 17-8 since June 30, which is still the best record in that stretch among all teams in baseball.

— The Red Sox and Mariners finish off their three-game series Wednesday. First pitch from T-Mobile Park is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus a full hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.