Bello's dominant start a stabilizing force for staff

BALTIMORE – Relief has been a touchy word for the Red Sox lately, as the bullpen has run into a mountain of trouble since the All-Star break.

But perhaps the best remedy for the bullpen is more starts like the one Brayan Bello had on Saturday night at Camden Yards.

The righty had a tremendous outing, holding the Orioles hitless for 5 2/3 innings and going six strong (two hits, one run, six strikeouts) to lead his team to a 5-1 victory to solidify at least a split of this four-game series that wraps up Sunday.

“My goal, especially recently, is to help the bullpen out,” Bello said. “We’ve had some extra-inning games, and guys are being used a lot. So I think it would really help if the starting rotation could go six or seven to help pick those guys up.”

After an inconsistent first half, Bello is settling into rhythm of late and starting to resemble the man who was Boston’s ace for a large chunk of 2023. In his last seven starts, Bello is 2-0 with a 3.57 ERA. The Red Sox are 6-1 in those games.

“What he did tonight, that was fun,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “He’s been throwing the ball well for a while. This stuff has been there for the last two months. Now, it's about executing and he did an amazing job.”

While the struggles of the bullpen have been well-chronicled, the rotation has also underperformed the last few weeks, particularly compared to the first couple of months of the season, when they were one of the best in the Majors.

Over its last 27 games, Boston’s rotation is 23rd in ERA (5.09) while giving up an MLB-high 32 home runs.

Of late, Cora has seen improvement from the group, though losing James Paxton for perhaps the rest of the season (partial tear in his right calf) presents another obstacle. Nick Pivetta missing a start due to arm fatigue and Cooper Criswell missing a week on the COVID-related injured list were other challenges faced by the group.

“I talked to [chief baseball officer Craig Breslow] the other day. The starters did a good job at home, against Houston and the Rangers. We got deep into the games,” said Cora. “We struggled with the bullpen. Obviously, the bullpen game on Saturday [was tough] after Pax got hurt, so we were struggling, and a little bit banged up. It takes a while [to reset].”

Gunnar Henderson ended Bello’s no-hit bid by just clearing the wall in right field for a game-tying, solo shot.

“Right now, we’re not looking for no-hitters or perfect games. We're looking for W’s and that was a big one for us,” said Cora.

The win allowed the Red Sox to remain 2 1/2 games behind the red-hot Royals for the third American League Wild Card spot.

Duran puts on a show

What did Jarren Duran do on Saturday night to help his team’s cause? How about a little bit of everything.

In the top of the seventh, Duran delivered a key two-out, two-run single on a 2-2 pitch that snapped a 1-1 tie and put Boston in the lead for good.

Right after the hit, Duran sprinted to second for stolen base No. 30, joining David Hamilton as the third Boston combo to have 30-plus steals in a season. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who was around the last time it happened. Harry Hooper and Tris Speaker pulled off the feat in 1910 and Harry Lord and Speaker pulled it off in 1909.

To cap off his fine all-around night, Duran timed his leap perfectly in center field and took a home run away from Eloy Jiménez for the second out of the ninth inning. It was Duran’s second robbery of the season. He also took one back from Stuart Fairchild in Cincinnati on June 22.

What was Duran’s favorite part of his performance?

“Probably the hit, because that helps the team,” Duran said. “I mean, the robbery is cool -- we're up 5 to 1. The steal, it's just individual. I don't really care about that. I'd say the hit, because it helps the team and it got us into a roll to score some more runs.”

Devers back in groove

Speaking of those additional runs Duran spoke of, they came on one swing from Rafael Devers, who bashed a two-run homer to right-center to pad the lead to 5-1 in the eighth. Devers came into this series in a slump but has gone deep the last two nights, which is certainly a key development for the Sox.