Red Sox win two in a row; Brayan Bello dominates Orioles: 'Everything went right from start to finish'
Red Sox starter Brayan Bello flirted with a no-hitter on Saturday night, en route to a 5-1 win over the Orioles at Camden Yards.
Bello wasn’t able to hold the Orioles deep lineup hitless, but he did dominate for six innings, allowing one run on two hits while striking out six. Boston received offensive contributions from Jarren Duran, who provided a two-run single, and Rafael Devers, who added a two-run blast in the win.
In arguably one of his best starts of the season, Bello was sharp out of the gate, even after the two teams sat around during a 76-minute rain delay.
Once the game was underway, Bello opened the first inning with a 1-2-3 inning, followed by a second inning where he walked two hitters. He was able to work around the free passes and then settled into his outing. Bello retired 12 batters in a row before Gunnar Henderson took him deep.
“Everything went right from start to finish,” said Bello (through team interpreter Daveson Perez). “Everything was working... Since the beginning, it felt like one of the better outings I’ve thrown this year.”
Bello had his changeup working all outing, throwing the pitch 29% of the time, according to Baseball Savant. His fastball sat regularly between 93 and 97 mph while tossing 16 sliders and getting 15 swings and misses, including eight on his impressive changeup.
“The changeup was really working, and I just didn’t want to change things up because it was going so well,” Bello said.
Over his starts in the month of August, Bello has looked dominant, allowing just two earned runs over 12 frames in his last two outings. Since the All-Star break, he’s posted a 3.44 ERA in six starts with 35 strikeouts in 34 innings.
“He has been throwing the ball well for a while,” Cora said. “The stuff has been there for the last two months. Now, it’s about executing. He did an amazing job.”
Bello has been trending in the right direction since he posted a 5.55 ERA on June 25. Since then, his ERA has dropped to 4.80, and a big part of that has been his ability to consistently attack the strike zone.
“The biggest difference between months is that I’m really confident in myself, really confident in the way I’m attacking the strike zone,” Bello said. “I’m attacking the strike zone a lot more now. Overall, just really confident in where I’m at.”
Boston needed a big outing from Bello on Saturday night. The Red Sox have now taken two straight games from the Orioles and will look to take three of four in the series finale on Sunday.
“He was really good,” said Cora. “Velocity was up, and the action of the changeup was good. Kept them off balance. I haven’t looked at the numbers, but I do believe we used the sinker more tonight than in previous outings. Obviously, they’re gonna make adjustments, and he’s gonna make adjustments, but what he did tonight was fun.
“He beat them to the spot with the sinker and the four-seamer. He used his four-seamer very effectively today. The changeup was great. Not too many sliders, I don’t believe. (Danny) Jansen and Brayan were locked it, it seems. A little bit different than in the past. You have to do that against good teams.”
