The Red Sox got their fifth win in a row with a workmanlike effort that all started with a pretty decent Brayan Bello “start!”
The starter turned bullpen-bulk-guy made his first start since June, and although it was shaky at times, he managed to go five scoreless innings and secure his sixth win of the season.
Bello delivered 103 pitches over five innings while surrendering only four hits and two walks and striking out seven. His first two innings were rather economical, and he showed decent control of the strike zone, although he walked a man in the first and gave up a leadoff single in the second.
He started to labor in the third inning when it appeared his focus dwindled a little after retiring the first two batters on just four pitches. Mike Trout singled to center with two outs, and then LA three-hitter Wade Meckler dropped down an excellent bunt for a hit. Bello then walked Vaughn Grissom to load the bases before retiring Ballesteros on a pop-up.
He was able to survive the inning, but some of the old danger signs were starting to flare up for Bello again. What was more infuriating was that the Sox had just put up four runs in the inning before, and Bello should have been throwing with as much confidence as he could possibly have.
The fourth and fifth innings were a little more of the same from the first two. Although he allowed only one runner in each inning, he was nibbling and throwing a lot of unnecessary pitches to each batter, especially given how good his stuff usually is.
Confidence was clearly an issue for Bello on Labor Day, but to his credit, he was able to avoid the usual complete meltdown that so many of his earlier starts contained.
After Chad Tracy pulled the plug on Bello after five, Wyatt Olds was the first guy out of the pen. Although he was greeted rather rudely by Moises Ballesteros with a 407-foot bomb to right-center on his first pitch, he threw the ball very well.
“The Marshal” ended up striking out the next three batters he faced in the sixth and then had a 1-2-3 seventh that included two more strikeouts, the final one being future Hall of Famer Mike Trout.
In keeping with the new organizational mission statement of “Rest Everyone, All the Time,” Tracy went to Alec Gamboa in the eighth inning, and it looked like his presence was going to give the Angels a little bit of a spark.
Meckler drew a leadoff walk because nothing says I am a “great” relief pitcher more than walking the first batter you see when you have a lead coming out of the pen.
He did manage to strike out Vaughn Grissom for the first out of the inning before allowing a double down the right-field line to Ballesteros that put men on second and third with one out. Gamboa did settle down enough to get a ground ball to Story for the second out, which did score a run, and then a lineout to Story to end the inning with Boston still leading 5-2.
In the ninth, Tracy either had no more cannon fodder left or decided that he should actually try to win the game, so he turned to Garrett Whitlock, who struck out two Angels of his own in a perfect inning.
For Whitlock, it was his third save of the season and thirteenth of his career.
Only 387 more to go, kid.
As for the Red Sox offense, it really only came from a few big swings early in the game.
After squandering a bases-loaded, one-out opportunity in the first inning, Jarren Duran celebrated getting his second haircut in as many days with a towering solo home run to right to get the Sox off and running.
After IKF and Roman Anthony successfully worked walks off Grayson Rodriguez, Adley Rutschman reintroduced himself to the Fenway Faithful by homering off the Pesky Pole to put Boston up 4-0.
An inning later, singles by Durbin and IKF preceded another two-out infield single by Eli White that gave Boston its fifth and final tally of the day.
The effort from Boston was a perfect tribute to the Labor Day holiday. Nothing seemed to come easily for the team, as they squandered quite a few opportunities at the plate and looked like they were struggling to remain patient with starter Rodriguez, although he appeared perfectly content to walk the ballpark if the Sox were willing.
The pitching was fine, but it wasn’t anything outstanding, considering that they were playing the worst team in baseball, which is quickly approaching its 100th loss of the season.
Yet, the Red Sox grinded out the game, and a win is a win.
And that is a far cry from where this club was earlier in the season when they were dropping games to local high school JV teams.
To Start or Not to Start, That Is the Question
Bello’s first start since June was ultimately a success.
It wasn’t an unequivocal one, but a success, nonetheless.
Granted, there wasn’t a very high bar to clear, but he was able to get out of the first inning unscathed and did complete five scoreless innings. The pitch count for five innings was alarming, as was his lack of faith in his stuff when pitching in the strike zone.
He wasn’t pitching with the same conviction that was evident in his relief outings.
The physical ability is clearly there. The next step for Andrew Bailey is to help get Bello out of his own head and release those inner doubts that start to interfere with his natural ability.
Pretty simple, though, right? That sort of thing doesn’t affect anyone anywhere in the world and should have an easy solution.
Change of Plans
Coming out of the Yankees series, it was clear that the Red Sox had given up on the thought of catching New York for the first wild card and were fine with changing their philosophy to resting as many players as they could to get ready for the playoffs.
Well, a week later, here they are on a five-game winning streak and back to only two games behind the Yankees again.
More importantly, they have extended their lead in the wild-card race to eight games over the Blue Jays.
So, what is next for Craig Breslow and the team? Does he flip-flop again and try to pull out all of the stops to catch the Yankees and get home-field advantage for the Wild Card Series, or does he continue to stay the course?
I am in the camp of continuing to do what they have been doing.
For one, this could be fake gold for the Red Sox because they are beating up on a pair of last-place teams, and there is much better quality on the horizon. Add to that, the Yankees are welcoming back Aaron Judge tonight, and love him or hate him, there is no arguing with the positive impact that man has on the Yankees.
Finally, to his credit, this version of the R&R Red Sox has been working. Important players have gotten some much-needed rest, both mentally and physically, and when they return, there has been a clear improvement in their play.
Garrett Whitlock and Adley Rutschman are just two examples of this strategy.
It would be a shame if Breslow decides to change directions again, still falls short of the first Wild Card, and only manages to burn out the already beleaguered core again.
Where do you fall? Share your thoughts in the comments!