Brayan Bello shines with the best start of his career and the Red Sox take another important victory

BOSTON – In the early months of the season, when the Boston Red Sox rotation dominated, Brayan Bello remained the underdog, struggling through a 5.32 ERA in 17 starts.

But the last two months have been a different story for Bello, who has quietly turned things around and put together a second half that’s closer to expectations after signing a six-year, $55 million contract extension in the spring.

Over the course of the summer, Bello has slowly lowered his ERA below 5.00. On Wednesday night, all of that work culminated in the best performance of his career.

The 25-year-old worked his way through the Toronto Blue Jays’ lineup with ease, allowing just two hits and one walk and striking out nine players in eight scoreless innings to lead to a dominant 3-0 victory. He threw 97 pitches, including 66 strikes, and recorded 15 swings and misses in a game that lasted 2 hours and 5 minutes.

“I definitely think that was one of my better starts in the big leagues, at all stages I thought I was one of the best,” Bello said through team translator Daveson Perez.

Brayan Bellos 8Ks to 7. pic.twitter.com/FtSQ1N5J3a

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) 29 August 2024

Bello jumped out to an early lead, once again thanks to Jarren Duran, who led off with a single and eventually scored on a single by Wilyer Abreu. The right-hander held that 1-0 lead for seven innings with crisp innings and effective pitching, mastering a Blue Jays lineup that had crushed him in the past. Bello entered the evening with a career ERA of 6.96 in seven starts against Toronto.

But on Wednesday he mixed his pitches skillfully and never needed more than 16 pitches per inning.

“That was incredible. He was fun to watch,” manager Alex Cora said. “In control. Pitch for pitch, he didn’t get his way, did he? The sinker was good. The four-seamer was great. The change-up slider was outstanding. His best major league outing against a team that gave him problems. He was able to keep them off balance. He used the fastball enough to keep them on their toes. He was outstanding.”

Part of Bello’s success since early July is that he’s been using the four-seamer a little more often. Bello’s four-seamer was downplayed to a .310 average and .646 slugging percentage last season, and that’s why he banned it from his arsenal in the first half.

But by reintroducing the pitch in early July, Bello has given hitters another element that makes him less predictable. Rather than overdoing the four-seamer like he did last year, he has used it judiciously and in the right places, never throwing it more than 20 percent of the time since first reintroducing it on July 3.

On Wednesday, Bello sprinkled seven four-seamers into the mix and got Daulton Varsho to strikeout in the seventh inning while watching.

“For me, it’s like a fourth pitch and I think it really helped me get a different look against left-handed hitters, change their vision. So it was a great pitch for me,” he said.

Learning when to rely on certain pitches for certain batters at certain times was part of Bello’s development.

“I think he’s still a work in progress,” Cora said. “This isn’t the final product. There’s more. And with the adjustments we made two months ago to reinstate the four-seam, he probably felt more comfortable.”

Bello retired Addison Barger on a one-out double in the second inning, cancelled out a leadoff walk with a double play in the fifth inning and retired Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a one-out single in the seventh inning. In 63 career starts, he had never recorded an eighth-inning out, but in 84 pitches after the seventh inning, Cora had yet to take the ball from him.

“When I realized they weren’t going to take me out after the seventh, I thought, ‘Oh, well, I feel really good. I feel good mentally, focused,’ so I was excited to get back out there,” Bello said.

After three quick outs in the eighth inning, Tyler O’Neill hit a two-run homer for good measure and Kenley Jansen ended the game. After the out, Bello now has an ERA of 4.66.

“We’re in the process of getting into the playoffs,” Bello said. “That’s why I really wanted to win this game so we can keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

The win helped the Red Sox move to within three games of the third wild-card spot after a loss to the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday. The regular season ends in a month on Thursday, and the Red Sox will need every second of this version of Bello to get there.

(Photo of Bello: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)