MIAMI — Alex Cora thought Brayan Bello would likely respond to being briefly unplugged from the Red Sox rotation in one of two ways. The scuffling righty could view it as a demotion and pout — or use it as motivation to get him back on track as the second half of the season began.
Eight days after allowing seven runs in a single inning in his last start against Toronto — and with a tool re-added to his arsenal — Bello had his best start in months Wednesday at loanDepot Park, holding a lowly Marlins offense to one run on seven hits while striking out seven in a season-high 6 ⅔ innings. Bello’s outing, which came after a brutal June in which he logged an 8.25 ERA in five starts, served as something of a relief. That was clear when Bello, who was not shy in expressing his displeasure on the mound while scuffling during the first half, playfully tossed a ball into the crowd as he left the mound in the seventh and couldn’t contain an ear-to-ear smile as he greeted teammates in the visitor’s dugout. The Red Sox won, 7-2.
“It feels good to be able to have a successful start,” said Bello, through interpreter Carlos Villoria Benítez. “All the work we did in between starts with (Andrew) Bailey paid off.”
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After Bello’s latest implosion against the Jays last Tuesday, it was clear something needed to change. The Red Sox, frustrated with Bello’s season-long inability to channel his above-average pitch mix by attacking hitters in the strike zone, decided to push him back from Sunday to Wednesday, giving him a soft landing against a Miami team that’s one of the worst in baseball. Over more than a week of meetings and side sessions, Bello worked on mechanics and his attack plan with Bailey and manager Alex Cora. And during that time, the 25-year-old even made a suggestion of his own, asking if he could re-introduce a four-seam fastball he had not thrown all season. Under Bailey, Bello had abandoned the pitch after it was hit hard late last year. But in an effort to keep Marlins hitters off guard, he threw it 11 times Wednesday, maxing out at 98.4 mph.
“Looking to add the four-seamer back was something we were looking to do at some point in time,” Bailey said. “Brayan brought it up to us and spoke about how it can help him free up some of the other pitchers a little bit.
“Brayan is not a finished product. None of our guys are. We’ve got to meet them where they’re at and push them when needed. We worked on a few things with the sinker and the changeup. We thought it was the right time to bring the four-seam back. For him to go out and pitch the way he did in a one-run game and hold us there the whole way through was really impressive.”
Early on, it looked like more of the same for Bello, who has battled traffic jams all year. Six pitches into the game, he had already allowed three singles and the game’s first run when Jesús Sánchez knocked in Jazz Chisholm Jr. But unlike in previous outings, he attacked the next couple batters and quickly escaped the jam before settling in. He retired 19 of 22 before allowing back-to-back two-out singles in the seventh and leaving the game.
“He responded in the first inning the way we wanted him to,” said Cora. “They came out swinging, got their hits, but he stayed attacking. His stuff was really good. He was throwing hard, the changeup was probably his best one of the season and he gave us a chance to win.
“He’s one of our best ones. We’ve got to get him going and today was a good one.”
Unlike Marlins starter Trevor Rogers, who needed 84 pitches to get through three innings, Bello was efficient and was cruising in the middle of the game, exiting the sixth inning at just 78 pitches. There was some sense in Cora pulling him there and taking six innings as both a win and a confidence-booster for the righty. But with a day game Thursday and Bello’s mix dazzling, Cora decided to leave him in. It was the second time all year Bello pitched into the seventh.
“He kept throwing strikes and that’s the most important thing,” Cora said. “His stuff is really good. He throws hard, he has a changeup and slider. You can see the confidence on the mound. There was no hesitation of him going out for the seventh.”
The schedule will continue being kind to Bello, who is slated to face the lowly Athletics to open Boston’s final homestand before the All-Star break on Tuesday night. In that start and others going forward, the Red Sox hope he’ll be able to carry the confidence and attack plan that worked so well for him in Miami. In Bailey’s eyes, it comes down to getting into pitcher’s counts early instead of falling behind.
“Definitely room to build on, still, from that aspect and from an arsenal standpoint, continuing to develop and string together a couple good outings in a row,” Bailey said. “But very, very proud of him, of course, for going out there … For him to keep his composure and hold us in that ballgame was very impressive.
“We’ve got to keep going. We hope he strings together a few.”
