Red Sox Notes: How Brayan Bello Felt Following Season Debut Vs. Mariners

Brayan Bello returned to make his belated season debut with the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night to open up a three-game series with the Seattle Mariners.

Bello’s performance was both awaited and a success.

The 25-year-old took the mound at Fenway Park and tossed five innings, allowing one earned run off four hits and three walks with three strikeouts. Bello took home the win as the offense provided the right-hander with enough run support until the home crowd provided him with a well-earned round of applause in the fifth inning. It was everything the Red Sox needed and it helped get the team off on the right foot to begin the set with Seattle with an 8-3 win.

“I felt very good, very excited, a very emotional moment for me,” Bello told reporters through team translator Carlos Villoria-Benítez, per NESN. “I tried to do my job from the first pitch to the last one. But yeah, very good moment for me to be back.”

Boston’s re-addition of Bello presents an encouraging step forward for the team. The Red Sox made it out of spring training without Bello, Kutter Crawford or Lucas Giolito — three members of the starting rotation — healthy for Opening Day. Still, the rest of the staff, including Sean Newcomb and Richard Fitts, played their parts to hold down the fort in the meantime and provide quality innings.

Pitching depth was a strong suit in the offseason once the front office brought in Garrett Crochet, Walker Buehler and Patrick Sandoval — currently recovering from Tommy John surgery. Bello’s first start now signals what the rotation can be moving forward to follow up on the lead that Crochet’s provided as the team’s ace.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora, too, was impressed with Bello’s work.

“The changeup was good. The slider was better, I believe, from where I was,” Cora told reporters, per NESN. “He was able to use the four-seamer to keep them honest and for his first one, that was solid. for us.”

Cora continued: “Overall, I thought he was good. Now, we’ll check on him tomorrow. (If) everything is good, he’ll pitch on Sunday.”

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

— Bello posted his career-best season debut, topping his previous best mark of five innings (and two runs allowed) from last season’s debut.

“I’ll be ready for the next start,” Bello said, who had a cramp issue late in his outing.

— Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas went 1-for-3 with the biggest swing of the night. The 25-year-old launched a towering three-run home run in the seventh inning to give Boston some valuable insurance. Casas is now hitting .333 with five extra-base this and seven RBIs when facing relief pitching.

“That specific situation didn’t call for a ground ball,” Casas said postgame, per NESN. “I hit the first one foul and that typically means bad luck after that, and I was able to get another pitch a little more in my zone and elevate it in the part of the field that I wanted to. But yeah, it was a good swing. I’m gonna try to carry that into tomorrow.”

— Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman went 2-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs. Bregman now leads the American League in doubles (9) and notched his seventh multi-hit game with the club this season.

— Boston leads MLB in three-run home runs hit this season (8), and has launched at least one round-tripper in its last nine consecutive games. The team improved to 10-2 across its last 12 home games against Seattle.

— The Red Sox and Mariners will continue their three-game series Wednesday night. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. ET, and you can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.