Story by
Red Sox reactions: Brayan Bello gives up 5 homers, 13 hits in blowout loss to Baltimore
- Story by
- Red Sox reactions: Brayan Bello gives up 5 homers, 13 hits in blowout loss to Baltimore
BALTIMORE — Instant reactions as starter Brayan Bello allows five homers in a brutal start and the Orioles bludgeon the Red Sox (9-17) by a 10-3 score in Boston ’s fourth straight loss:
1)For Bello, the outing was as bad as it gets for a starting pitcher. The number that best illustrates the mauling he experienced? That he gave up 13 hits — including the five homers — but recorded just 10 outs.
Advertisement
Baltimore punished Bello from the very start, homering on three of his first 13 pitches. Leadoff man Gunnar Henderson hit the second pitch of Bello’s outing 410 feet at 109.1 mph. Two batters later, it was Adley Rutschman ’s turn with a two-run blast (395 feet, 102 mph). Then, Dylan Beavers got in on the action and launched a 411-foot, 102.3 mph solo shot that made it 4-0 in the first.
Samuel Basallo and Rutschman (again) completed the five count for Baltimore and helped chase Bello with homers in the fourth.
Bello’s absurd line: 3-⅓ innings, 13 hits, 8 earned runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts and 5 homers. The Orioles hit nine balls at 100 mph or harder off him. He has a 9.00 ERA through five starts in 2026.
2)Bello’s frustrations boiled over as he lost his temper a couple times late in the outing. After issuing a walk to Leody Taveras in the third, Bello angrily spiked the rosin bag on the Camden Yards mound as Cora came out to visit — but not pull him.
Advertisement
An inning later, after the second Rutschman homer and back-to-back singles, Cora had seen enough. Bello walked off the field extremely slowly and once in the dugout, whipped his glove into a bubble gum container behind the bench .
It was further evidence of the Red Sox falling into panic mode just four weeks into the season.
3)The most encouraging moment of the night for the Red Sox? Wilyer Abreu homering for the first time in 18 games. Minutes after Baltimore’s first-inning home run barrage, Abreu got one run back for the Red Sox with a no-doubter off starter Brandon Young . It was his first since April 1 and tied him for the team lead with Willson Contreras (4).
Entering the game, Abreu was in a 6-for-40 (.150) stretch over 11 games but the Red Sox felt he was somewhat the victim of bad luck. He added an opposite-field double in the sixth.
Advertisement
4)A night that started with a barrage of Orioles homers ended in similarly embarrassing fashion for the Red Sox. They had the bases loaded and no outs against rookie Cameron Foster (and his 9.82 ERA) but failed to score in part because of a boneheaded baserunning play.
With no outs, Carlos Narváez lifted a lazy fly ball to right field that wasn’t deep enough to plate Trevor Story from third. Beavers threw home and Rutschman caught the ball in front of the plate before throwing down to second, where Marcelo Mayer was far enough off the base to be picked off. Jarren Duran then ended the game with a pop-up the other way.
The Red Sox were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven runners.
5)It’s true that the Red Sox faced a tough stretch of starters that included Tarik Skubal , Framber Valdez , Max Fried and Cam Schlittler in the past week. But Young — he of a 5.74 ERA in 13 big league starts after debuting at 26 years old — is far from an ace. Just like many other pitchers this season, the righty put together a solid outing against the Red Sox, allowing three runs on seven hits in 5-⅔ innings. He struck out five.
Advertisement
6)Bello’s short start marked the fifth time in eight games that a Red Sox starter didn’t get through five innings. The early-week bullpen shuffle that saw call-ups like Jack Anderson and Eduardo Rivera throw multiple innings helped matters some, but some members of the relief corps are getting worn out in April. On Friday, Jovani Morán (36 pitches in 2-⅔ innings) and Ryan Watson (43 pitches in 2 innings) wore it — like they often have so far.
Watson, who has struggled all year, allowed a run and four hits. He has a 7.31 ERA in 12 games.
In total, the O’s had 20 hits.
7)Things have really cooled down for early-season star Willson Contreras, who was 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in the loss. He’s now in an 0-for-14 stretch with seven strikeouts and one walk.
Advertisement
On the other side of the coin, Mayer ripped an RBI double for the second straight night. He later singled in the ninth.
8)Bello will likely make his next start but if Sonny Gray is truly facing a short absence and will return in 10 days or so, the Red Sox might have a decision to make between Bello and Payton Tolle soon, especially if their performances are in line with what they each showed over the past two days.
9)The Red Sox have now had a five-game losing streak and a four-game losing streak in the first 26 games of the season. They’re 4-9 on the road, 3-11 against the American League and 1-12 when the opponent scores first. Boston scored three or fewer runs for the 15th time in 26 games.
Ugly all around.
Advertisement
10)The Red Sox will face a quick turnaround as they try to get back on track Saturday with first pitch moved up (four hours) to 12:05 p.m. ET due to rain. It’ll be a good pitching matchup between lefties Garrett Crochet (2-3, 7.88 ERA) and Trevor Rogers (2-2, 4.08 ERA), who both finished in the top 10 in last year’s American League Cy Young race.
More Red Sox coverage
Read the original article on MassLive . Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
