Red Sox Notes: Brennan Bernardino’s ‘Amazing’ Performance Appreciated

The Boston Red Sox needed to weather the storm of the Baltimore Orioles in the late innings of Tuesday night’s 8-3 road win, which wasn’t easy.

However, what eased the pressure of having gone winless this season against Baltimore was the work done by reliever Brennan Bernardino. With Boston’s 4-3 lead hanging by a thread after the Orioles loaded the bases with nobody out in the sixth inning, Bernardino pitched to a fielder’s choice and struck out two, getting the Red Sox out of a high-pressured jam.

”It feels good. That’s literally what my job is,” Bernardino told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “I feel like it’s to come into situations and help my starter or whatever pitcher’s pitching before me. So it felt great to do that.”

Bernardino added: “Ever since you’re a kid those are the situations you draw up in the backyard. It’s fun actually getting to do them.”

The Red Sox leaned to Bernardino in the seventh inning, too, and the 32-year-old delivered a second time, finishing the night by logging two scoreless innings with four strikeouts. Bernardino guided Boston away from a potentially collapsing finish in Baltimore and maintained Bello’s eligibility to earn his sixth win of the season.

“(He’s) just really good against lefties and righties,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Obviously, there’s certain matchups that we try to avoid, but today he was amazing. We knew they were gonna use their righties but his stuff plays regardless.”

Bernardino has been stellar thus far when called upon to deliver, and Tuesday night was no different. After 25 innings pitched in 2024, Bernardino’s recorded a 0.78 ERA with 23 strikeouts in the books. He’s allowed just one earned run in 11 appearances in May.

“I respect Bernie a ton, he’s always been a hustler,” Rafael Devers told reporters translator Daveson Pérez, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “You can see it in his story. Coming from Mexico, coming here to where he is today. He’s someone that I respect a lot and I’m proud of Bernie.”

Red Sox Wrap: Boston Earns First Win Over Orioles This Season

May 28, 2024

Here are more notes from Tuesday night’s Red Sox-Orioles game:
— Devers legged out a triple in the eighth inning, finishing 4-for-5 at the plate to notch his 13th career four-plus hit game. Boston’s locker room enjoyed watching the 27-year-old fly across the bases.

“When he hit the triple, I was like, ‘Oh man, he’s not gonna shut up in the clubhouse because he’s gonna say he’s faster than (Jarren) Duran, faster than (Ceddanne) Rafaela,'” Bello said through Pérez, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “But, no, good for him.”

— Cora revealed that Bello was questionable heading into the game after the right-hander dealt with an illness, which Bello addressed postgame.

“Back home I was feeling a little sick but that wasn’t going to stop me from giving 100% today,” Bello told reporters through Pérez, per NESN. “… In that first inning, my body wasn’t warmed up all the way up yet, but after we got past that, I was able to do what I do.”

— Boston improved to 4-1 in road games when playing against the American League East.

— The Red Sox and Orioles will wrap up their three-game set as Boston looks to take the series. First pitch on Wednesday night is set for 6:35 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.