Brayan Bello’s transformation from struggling starter to dominant bulk reliever has been one of the more unexpected developments of the Red Sox’ turnaround.
On Saturday night, Bello came back down to earth and allowed four runs over 4 1/3 innings, the most he has surrendered in any of his 13 relief appearances, and the Yankees blew open a close game with five runs in the eighth to hand the Red Sox a 9-2 loss in Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader at Yankee Stadium.
After Boston rode Jake Bennett’s six scoreless innings to a 6-0 victory in the opener, the Yankees answered emphatically in the nightcap to earn the split. The result leaves Boston at 74-62 and three games behind New York (77-59) for the top American League Wild Card spot.
It also sets up a meaningful Sunday afternoon in the Bronx with massive postseason implications for both clubs.
The rivals are tied 6-6 in the season series, meaning Sunday’s winner will own the head-to-head tiebreaker should they finish the regular season with identical records. A Boston victory would also send the Red Sox home exactly where they started the weekend, two games behind New York. A loss would drop them four games back.
Bello had been nearly untouchable since the Red Sox moved him out of the rotation.
The right-hander entered Saturday with a 0.99 ERA over 54 2/3 innings in 12 relief appearances, having never allowed more than one earned run in any of them. That success was a dramatic departure from his eight starts, when he posted a 10.35 ERA and eventually earned a month-long demotion to Triple-A Worcester.
Left-hander Alec Gamboa opened with 1 1/3 scoreless innings before turning things over to Bello, who escaped a potential jam almost immediately.
With runners at the corners and one out in the second, Bello induced a weak grounder back to the mound. Luis García Jr. inexplicably broke for home from third, allowing Bello to easily throw him out at the plate.
Nick Sogard then gave Boston the lead in the third after he jumped on a 93.4 mph four-seam fastball from Max Fried and drove it the opposite way, sneaking a 351-foot solo homer into the short porch in right.
A week ago, Sogard had never homered in the majors. He now has three since Sunday.
His latest came after a strong performance in the opener, when he collected two hits and made a terrific relay throw to cut down a runner at the plate.
The 1-0 lead didn’t last long when José Caballero singled to open the bottom of the third before Ben Rice tied the game with an RBI single. Bello then hit Heliot Ramos with a 1-2 pitch, and Wilyer Abreu committed an error in right as the inning began to unravel.
New York eventually scored three times, adding a run on García’s fielder’s choice and another on Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s sacrifice fly.
