BOSTON — Red Sox righty Brayan Bello’s shortest career start came Tuesday when he lasted just 2 ⅓ innings against the Blue Jays.
The 25-year-old allowed seven runs, all in the third inning. The Red Sox lost 9-4 here at Fenway Park.
“I obviously didn’t want to come out of the game,” Bello said through translator Daveson Pérez. “I wanted to compete. I was kind of surprised when they took me out but a lot of runs that inning, a lot of pitches being thrown. But hopefully moving forward, I don’t have a terrible outing like the one I just had and this is the only short outing that I’ll have.”
Bello’s previous shortest start came April 17, 2023, when he allowed five runs in 2 ⅔ innings against the Angels at home.
Bello’s biggest issue continues to be strike-throwing. He walked three batters and hit another. He landed just 55.8% of his pitches for strikes (52 pitches, 29 strikes).
“We’ve gotta throw more strikes,” manager Alex Cora said. “That’s the most important thing regardless of the results. We have to be more aggressive in the zone. … So I think that summarizes his outing. We need to throw more strikes.”
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Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s two-run double and George Springer’s two-run homer were the two big hits in the third inning. Guerrero’s double came on a 3-1 sinker. Springer’s homer was on a 1-0 slider.
Bello — who in March signed a $55 million contract that can max out at $75 million — can’t pinpoint anything right now that’s causing the control/command issues. He has a 5.55 ERA in 14 starts.
“My mindset is good,” he said. “My mechanics are good. I don’t really know what’s going on right now. But I do know I’m working with Bails (pitching coach Andrew Bailey) about attacking the zone and doing what I’m supposed to do. And there’s still a lot of season left for me. I know it hasn’t been great to this point. But I know what I am capable of and I know what I can do for the rest of the season.”
He knows turning around his season will start with throwing more strikes.
“That’s when I’m most effective is when I’m keeping pitches in the zone,” Bello said. “That helps me go to the fifth inning and beyond. When I don’t do that, I get behind, start walking guys and they start getting more runs on me. So just gotta keep working hard so the next outing I do a better job of that.”
Bello also knows he must do a better job of controlling his emotions.
“I’ve been working on that personally since the minors — controlling those emotions,” Bello said. “I think it’s something that year after year I’ve done a really good job at doing. But this year, it hasn’t been that way. So I think that’s a good point and something that I need to pay attention to.”
