Prior to Sunday’s game, Alex Cora offered an assessment of Brayan Bello’s season that doubled as a challenge.
“We need to be more aggressive in the strike zone,” Cora said. “97 pitches in five innings is not efficient. All these guys tell you ‘no I’ve got 100 pitches,’ yeah, it’s 100 over six. Over five that means there’s a lot of traffic and we have to be aggressive with the bullpen. So we expect him to go out there and give us six or seven, be aggressive with his stuff, if he can do that he’s going to be OK.”
It’s safe to say Sunday did not represent the step forward Cora was looking for.
Bello failed to get out of the fifth inning for the third consecutive start, allowing seven runs on 10 hits, five walks and three strikeouts over 4.1 innings in the Red Sox’s eventual 10-4 loss to the Atlanta Braves. He fell behind early, gave up the lead after Rafael Devers came through with a go-ahead grand slam, and then melted down completely in the top of the fifth.
By day’s end Bello’s ERA had spiked from 2.33 to 4.02, and with the loss Boston is now 23-25 on the season and 6-11 since April 30.
“We’ve got to finish innings, we’ve got to finish at bats, we’ve got to get better,” Cora said postgame. “Does it feel like we’re way off? No, but it’s another loss in the column.”
Atlanta loaded the bases against Bello right out of the chute, getting two singles and a walk to start the game, but Bello was able to limit the Braves to two runs on an RBI single by Drake Baldwin and a run-scoring groundout by Ozzie Albies.
The Braves stretched the lead to 3-0 in the third on a Matt Olson double and a Marcell Ozuna RBI single, but in the bottom of the frame the Red Sox answered by loading the bases themselves, and Rafael Devers came through with a towering grand slam to put Boston ahead.
It was the first grand slam by a Red Sox player this season, and the first since Luis Urias hit one against New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole on Aug. 19, 2023. That drought of 638 days between grand slams was the club’s longest since going 664 days between slams between 1952-54, and it was the club’s seventh-longest drought of the past century.
With the momentum on their side, the Red Sox desperately needed a shutdown inning from Bello in the fourth. The right-hander nearly delivered, getting two quick groundouts, but then allowed three straight singles, including a game-tying knock by Austin Riley.
Then things went totally sideways in the fifth.
Bello once again loaded the bases with no outs and allowed another runner to score after walking Michael Harris II on four pitches. He then allowed an RBI single to Eli White and a sacrifice fly to Nick Allen before Cora finally came out and lifted the struggling starter for left-hander Sean Newcomb.
Cora said later that the leadoff walk to Ozuna, in which Bello got ahead 0-2 in the count, changed the game. Bello was also ahead of Riley 0-2 before the Braves third baseman hit the tying RBI single in the fourth, and generally Bello wasn’t able to finish at bats.
A big reason why was his changeup, normally his best out pitch, wasn’t very effective. Bello threw the pitch 20 times but only drew two whiffs on 10 swings with six balls put in play, and none of the other 10 pitches went for called strikes.
“My changeup is my second-best pitch and I haven’t been able to locate it, so for me that’s a big issue,” Bello said after the game via interpreter Carlos Villoria Benítez. “That’s the pitch I use for strikeouts and for hitters to chase, and when I don’t have it it’s very hard.”
Newcomb proceeded to walk Alex Verdugo to load the bases again, but Alex Bregman made a brilliant diving stop on a hard liner by Riley and combined with David Hamilton to turn a potentially game-saving inning-ending double play to keep it 7-4 Atlanta.
Hamilton turned another terrific double play later, but the Braves eventually blew the game open anyway with three runs in the eighth on an Olson sacrifice fly and a two-run shot by Ozuna. Ozuna finished 2 for 4 with three RBI and Alex Verdugo and Riley each had three hits.
Outside of Devers (2 for 4, double, grand slam), the only Red Sox player who did anything significant at the plate was Hamilton, who went 2 for 4 with a double and a stolen base.
Newcomb finished the game for Boston, allowing three runs on six hits, two walks and four strikeouts over the last 4.2 innings. Braves starter Spencer Schwellenbach allowed four runs over seven innings on six hits, a walk and three strikeouts.
Though Sunday was Bello’s worst outing of the season in terms of runs allowed, a lot of his issues on display have been evident all year.
Entering the day Bello had allowed 24 hits, 14 walks and two hit batsman in 27 innings through his first five starts. That’s more than 1.6 baserunners per inning, and yet Bello also only had a 2.33 ERA thanks in large part to the fact that opposing batters were 2 for 20 against him with runners in scoring position.
Bello’s Fielding Independent Pitching mark of 5.54 relative to his 2.33 ERA was a glaring red flag, and Sunday his good fortune ran out.
At this point Boston’s starting pitching issues extend well beyond Bello. Tanner Houck, who was an All-Star last season, has endured a nightmarish start and may not pitch again for a while after going on the IL with a flexor strain. Lucas Giolito has also been up and down since making his season debut, and Walker Buehler and Richard Fitts are both currently on the IL.
Asked if the club needs someone to step up as a reliable No. 2 behind Garrett Crochet, Cora issued another challenge, this time to the whole group.
“They need to step up, that’s the bottom line. We have to step up as a rotation,” Cora said. “It’s not only Garrett, it’s everybody. We have to do a better job as a group.”
Things won’t get any easier for the Red Sox, as the club is set to welcome the first-place New York Mets to Fenway Park on Monday for the start of a three-game series. Rookie Hunter Dobbins will get the ball first in the opener against Mets standout Kodai Senga.
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