This story was excerpted from Tim Stebbins’ Red Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO -- After Brayan Bello looked up at a Guaranteed Rate Field scoreboard in the fifth inning Friday, manager Alex Cora could tell the young right-hander was disappointed. 

Bello wasn’t disappointed in the score -- the Red Sox led the White Sox 3-1, which ultimately was the game’s final tally -- but rather his pitch count. It was around 90, or so Bello thought, and he was worried Cora was close to pulling him. 

“He looked at the wrong one,” Cora said. “He looked at [Lucas] Giolito’s  [pitch count], to be honest with you. And then the next inning, he looked up, and he's like, ‘OK, I'm good. It was 89 [pitches].’ I said, ‘Bro, you’re looking at the wrong pitcher. You are in a good spot.’” 

Said Bello through an interpreter: “And I’m like, ‘OK, now I can relax a little bit more.’ Because I was stressing out about having that many pitches.” 

Bello threw 104 pitches that start, tossing 6 2/3 strong innings in which he allowed one run, six hits and a walk.

Performances like that have been routine lately for the 24-year-old, whose emergence continues to be an encouraging storyline for the Red Sox this season.

Bello has gone at least six innings in four straight starts and five of his last six. That includes back-to-back seven-inning outings against the Yankees this month. In nine starts since the beginning of May, he has a 2.52 ERA in 53 2/3 innings -- just under an average of six innings per start. 

“My goal is always try to go deep into the game so I can help the bullpen, and that has been my mentality since I came up here,” Bello said. “I'm trying to get quick outs. I’m not trying to strike out anybody, and that's been the key to go deep into the game.” 

Bello wanted to finish the seventh on Friday, but Cora went to the bullpen. Nick Pivetta got Andrew Benintendi to fly out to end the inning.  

“Today was just a matchup right there, and he understands,” Cora said. “He understands how it works. He wants to be really, really good, and so far, he’s been solid for us.”

As solid as he’s been, Bello has continued trying to get better. He said he hasn’t been able to control his slider exactly how he wants recently, and he started working on adding a cutter to his mix. He threw it in a game for the first time Friday. 

“His willingness to keep getting better [stands out],” Cora said. “For being such a young kid, he's not getting caught up on like, ‘I went to New York and pitched seven innings, and I faced the Yankees again the next weekend and I went seven.’ This week, it’s the same work. Working on a few things in the bullpen to improve his slider, location of his pitches, which is awesome.  

“He's very hungry. He understands that he's good, but obviously there's a lot of work that we have to do for him to get to where we want to.”