Red Sox
Bello allowed just one hit over six scoreless innings on Friday night.
The Red Sox opened their series against the Pittsburgh Pirates in dominating fashion on Friday night.
Boston hitters launched four home runs off of its opponent to help secure the 8-1 win, but manager Alex Cora had the highest praise for his starting pitcher following the victory.
Brayan Bello earned it by throwing his best game of the season thus far. The team’s ace tossed six scoreless innings, allowed one hit, and struck out seven batters.
“He was amazing. He was really good,” Cora said postgame. “Game planning-wise, he knew what he wanted to do. Velocity was up, too.”
The 24-year-old retired the last 11 batters he faced in a contest that Cora called the Red Sox’ “best of the season.” Bello’s near-perfect outing helped him attain his third win of the year and the team’s 11th overall.
“It was great, a great outing. Went out there to compete every inning,” Bello said via a translator. “This is what I wanted since the offseason, since we started working out. This is the kind of pitcher I am, so everything went well.”
Bello also acknowledged the early run support he received from his teammates. The eight runs Boston scored behind the pitcher on Friday were the most the team has given him through five starts.
“Every time they scored a run, I was trying to talk to myself, say, ‘Now, next inning, I need to keep it in zero,” Bello said. “I need to get my guys back to hit.’ That was my mindset, to keep throwing zeroes inning after inning.”
The Red Sox have to be feeling good about their decision to extend Bello before the start of this season. He’s proving himself to be a reliable arm every fifth day and an anchor on an otherwise shaky team to begin 2024.
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