ATLANTA -- Celebrating his 27th birthday and coming off two stellar performances in bulk relief, Brayan Bello was looking for a coming-of-age moment in his return to the rotation on Sunday.
Instead, he experienced another setback in what has been his most wobbly season to date.
The righty’s trend of first-inning trouble continued when Austin Riley swatted a three-run homer against him just after the Red Sox narrowly missed completing an inning-ending double play.
Bello’s birthday didn’t get much better as it went.
As Boston lost the rubber match, 8-1, to the Braves at Truist Park, Bello was belted around for eight hits and seven runs while walking three and striking out just one.
It was interesting that, after Bello held the Tigers and Phillies to a combined eight hits and two runs over 13 1/3 innings with two walks and 12 strikeouts in those two prolonged relief outings, the Sox didn’t stay the course.
But with the team’s lefty opener options (Tyler Samaniego and Jovani Morán) thrust into frequent action of late, interim manager Chad Tracy and his staff decided to put Bello back in the traditional starting role. The top of Atlanta’s potent batting order had three lefties and a switch-hitter, which made Tracy hesitant to use a righty opener.
You wonder if the Sox will now shift Bello back to pitching behind an opener. His numbers in his seven starts this season (9.68 ERA, 10 homers allowed, 18 walks, 18 strikeouts in 30 2/3 innings) are far from pretty.
In the first innings of his seven starts, Bello has allowed 14 hits, nine earned runs and four homers.
In his fifth Major League season, Bello is at the point where many pitchers generally enter a period of peak performance.
Instead, he has struggled mightily, unable to use his expansive repertoire effectively.
It will be interesting to see what Boston will do when ace Garrett Crochet is activated from the injured list within the next couple of weeks. The team’s other starters (Ranger Suarez, Payton Tolle, Connelly Early and Sonny Gray) have all performed exceptionally lately.