BALTIMORE — With 40 games remaining in the regular season, the Boston Red Sox will surely need more mound production like the one Brian Bello showed Saturday night if they want to make it into the postseason.
Bello no-hit the Baltimore Orioles over 5 2/3 innings in a 5-1 victory, one of his best outings of the season as his form on the mound continues.
Bello's struggles this season have been well-publicized, but he has slowly started to improve over the past two months, posting a 3.78 ERA in nine starts in July and lowering his ERA to 4.80 for the season.
Saturday night was another step in the right direction.
“Since (the start of the game), I feel like that was the best pitch I've thrown this year,” Bello said through a team translator.
Despite issuing three walks in the first three innings, Bello did well to avoid the jam, not allowing the Orioles a hit until Gunnar Henderson hit a solo home run to tie the game in the sixth. Ryan O'Hearn followed with a single, but unlike his early-season slump that threatened to derail him, Bello kept his cool and struck out Ryan Mountcastle with a slider.
Jarren Duran pic.twitter.com/ddX4oYU2Bc
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Bello gave up one run on two hits and three walks while striking out six and throwing 97 pitches, 57 of which were strikes and 15 strikeouts.
“He's been throwing the ball well for a while now,” manager Alex Cora said. “He's been pitching well the last couple months. Now he just has to execute on it, and he's done a great job.”
In the top of the seventh, right after Bello left the game, the Red Sox's offense, which had been a driving force in the team's second half, came back to action. Triston Casas singled with one out, and pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida doubled to put runners in scoring position. Two batters later, Jarren Duran smashed a two-run single to center field to give the Red Sox the lead.
Duran quickly stole second base for his 30th stolen base of the season and then, in the ninth inning, caught a ball hit over the wall to prevent a home run.
“He's one of the most dynamic players in the major leagues,” Cora said. “Hitting to center field, stealing bases, robbing. He's a joy to watch.”
On a night when the Red Sox beat the Orioles in a hard-fought 12-10 victory, the teams battled for five innings, and despite a strong performance from Bello, Orioles left-hander Cade Povich held the Red Sox in check through five innings.
The Red Sox came into the game 14-21 against left-handed starting pitchers this season, and finally got around to Povich in the sixth inning.
Tyler O'Neill, returning to a Red Sox game for the first time since Aug. 2 after battling a foot infection, got a key hit in his third at-bat to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead. In the seventh inning, Casas singled to eject Povich, followed by a big hit by Duran.
While the offense continues to find ways to pull off wins, Boston's pitching staff has struggled mightily in the second half.
The Red Sox starters entered the night with a 6.10 ERA in the second half of the season. The bullpen had a 7.11 ERA after rest. Both were among the worst in baseball during that span.
Bello's six innings on Saturday were especially important because the Red Sox used every pitcher in their bullpen on Friday in an attempt to secure the win.
“My goal is to help out the bullpen, especially lately,” Bello said. “We've had some extra inning games and guys are being used a lot, so if the starting rotation can pitch six or seven innings and help those guys out, I think that would really help.”
With the Red Sox leading 3-1 on a hit by Duran in the seventh, relief pitcher Brennan Bernardino allowed two of the first three batters to reach base. Lucas Sims came in with one out, induced a flyout and walked to load the bases, but broke his bat and grounded out to avoid a major pinch.
Rafael Devers added another run with a two-run homer, and Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen closed out the game to protect the win.
The win, which came after a 1 hour, 16 minute rain delay before the first pitch, gave the Red Sox victory in two of their first three games against the Orioles, who had won just one of their six games to start the series.
(Photo by Mitchell Leighton/Getty Images)
