Red Sox Notes: Brayan Bello’s Lack Of Location Results In Boston Loss

The Texas Rangers made Brayan Bello pay for every mistake he threw across the plate and defeated the Boston Red Sox 15-5 in the rubber match of the three-game series.

Bello surrendered six runs on six hits in the bottom of the second inning en route to his worst start for the Red Sox. Throwing only 82 pitches in three innings, the 24-year-old earned his 10th loss of the season by giving up a career-high eight runs — the most by any Boston starter this season.

“To be honest, I don’t know what happened,” Bello said through Red Sox translator Carlos Villoria, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “I try to execute my pitches, but I don’t know what happened. I tried to get ahead of the hitters, but that didn’t happen. Today wasn’t my day.”

Red Sox skipper Alex Cora credited the Rangers hitters as much as acknowledging Bello’s struggles in the game.

“They put some good swings on pitches in the zone,” Cora said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “The command was off and it’s one of those that we got to turn the page and be ready for the next one. … That’s a team similar to Toronto, Houston, the Dodgers — fast break offense that when they get going, it’s hard to stop and we weren’t able to do that.”

In his last six starts, Bello has faced playoff-contending teams and Cora believes Bello can make the adjustments for next season.

“He’s a good pitcher,” Cora said. “He’s part of the future. He’s part of the present. He just had an off day.”

Here are more notes from Wednesday’s Red Sox-Rangers game:

— Luis Urías left the game in the seventh inning after he reached on an infield single to shortstop and Wilyer Abreu pinch ran for the second baseman. Cora said Urias had calf tightness and had no further updates.

— The Red Sox fell to three games under .500 for the first time since April 13 when they were 5-8.

— Adam Duvall hit his 20th home run of the season, putting him fourth on the team behind Rafael Devers (33), Triston Casas (24) and Justin Turner (23).

— The Red Sox return home to begin the final homestand of the season when they open a three-game series with the Chicago White Sox on Friday night. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET. You can watch the game, plus an hour and a half of pregame coverage, on NESN.