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Red Sox’ Brayan Bello explains why he repeatedly shook head as manager removed him
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- Red Sox’ Brayan Bello explains why he repeatedly shook head as manager removed him
TORONTO — Red Sox starter Brayan Bello repeatedly shook his head side to side while interim manager Chad Tracy walked to the mound to remove him from Wednesday's game with two outs in the fourth inning.
Boston lost 8-1 to the Blue Jays here at Rogers Centre.
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Tracy removed Bello with the Sox trailing 3-1. The 26-year-old righty was at 63 pitches, and had just walked No. 9 hitter Brandon Valenzuela.
Tracy and pitching coach Andrew Bailey decided together to pull Bello and replace him with reliever Greg Weissert .
When he returned to the dugout, Bello was seen pacing, talking to himself and continuing to shake his head . He also pounded his fist down on the railing in front of the dugout after Weissert allowed a two-run home run that made it 5-1.
"Obviously, I was upset," Bello said through translator Carlos Villoria Benítez. "I haven't been able to pitch well in the past few starts. I haven't been able to pitch deep into the games. That's what I want. And today it went that way as well. So obviously I was upset to come out of the game."
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Bello's 3 ⅔ innings marked the fourth time in six starts this season he has pitched four or fewer innings. It's been a pattern of early exits for Bello:
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March 31 at Houston : 4.2 innings.
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April 6 vs. Milwaukee : 3.1 innings.
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April 12 at St. Louis : 6.2 innings.
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April 18 vs. Detroit : 4.0 innings.
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April 24 at Baltimore : 3.1 innings.
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April 29 at Toronto: 3.2 innings.
Asked if he thinks he should have stayed in the game, he replied, "Yes." But he said the emotion came from the way he pitched.
"I haven't been able to pitch five innings in a few games, so I was very upset with myself," Bello said.
Bailey was asked if he's OK with the way Bello behaved after being removed.
"I've gotta talk to Trace on that, but I think he (Bello) understands that it's the heat of moment and we've gotta operate with some grace," Bailey said. "I mean, these guys are human beings. And they want to win and they want to compete. And I don't think there's any malice behind his frustrations."
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Tracy said he hasn't yet spoken with Bello about it but added, "I can talk to him."
"Most pitchers I know don't like to come out in the fourth inning, so that's OK," Tracy said.
Bello's ERA increased to 9.12. He allowed four runs, six hits and two walks while striking out two in 3 ⅔ innings.
"It's a frustrating one," Bailey said. "I thought he threw the ball really well there until two outs in the third. Was able to kind of use all his pitches like we want him to and like needs to, to kind of get through innings. Got two outs there, fell behind, I think five straight hitters like 2-0 or 2-1. They strung together a bunch of hits."
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Bello retired seven of the first eight hitters but allowed a single with one out in the third, then four singles and a walk with two outs that inning.
Bello has allowed 26 earned runs, 43 hits and 15 walks while striking out 17 in 25 ⅔ innings. Opponents are batting .374 against him, the highest batting average against among pitchers who have pitched more than 10 innings.
Bailey said he's "very confident" in Bello.
"I think there's frustration, which is warranted and understood," Bailey said. "Baseball's a tough game. We can't let it beat us down. And we're going to get ready for our next start with him."
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Bailey stressed that it's important for Bello to get ahead of hitters early in counts. If he does that, he's able to generate weak ground balls. Bailey said the quality of contact spikes when Bello falls behind in counts.
"He wears his emotions on his sleeves and it's OK," Bailey said. "That's who he is. But at the end of the day, it's a tough game and we gotta get ready for the next one."
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