BOSTON -- The Brayan Bello saga, one of the most confounding storylines for the Red Sox this season, only got murkier on Thursday afternoon at Fenway Park, much to the chagrin of a crowd hoping its team could win a home series for the first time since April 8.
It was not to be, as the Orioles handed the Sox an 8-2 defeat that closed out a brief three-game homestand, and Bello was optioned to Triple-A Worcester after the game, according to a source. Lefty Joe La Sorsa, acquired for cash considerations from the Pirates on Thursday, is expected to replace Bello on the roster for the series opener in New York on Friday.
While Boston’s home struggles (10-21, worst in the Majors) is a story unto itself, the enigma that has become Bello was the unfortunate headliner on getaway day.
To recap, this has been the pattern for the last month or so.
Option A, most frequently used; The Sox put an opener in front of Belllo. Said opener gives up a run or more to put the team in a hole. Bello comes in and performs well (0.71 ERA in four relief appearances).
Option B: Bello, coming off a brilliant bulk-inning performance, gets another chance to start. It goes horribly off track, sending the coaching staff back to the drawing board.
Coming off seven scoreless innings of relief last Friday in Cleveland -- when Bello took the ball with his team already down four runs -- the time seemed right to go back to Option B.
By the time Bello walked off the mound to end a 40-pitch top of the first inning against Baltimore, Boston was down, 6-0. In his eight starts this season, Bello’s ERA in the opening frame is 16.88.
“I don't really know what's going on,” Bello said. “I think I have the same mentality, whether I'm starting or relieving. So, honestly, I don't know.”
“You’ve just got to keep looking at it, obviously,” interim manager Chad Tracy said. “It's pretty raw at this point, and immediate -- it just happened. Obviously, it was rough. We’re well aware of that.”
Bello was more animated during this postgame briefing than others. When pressed about the starter-reliever dilemma, Bello seemed to be fatigued/annoyed by it being an ongoing topic.
“First of all, just stop talking about the bullpen and starting games. I’ve always been a starter, and when I've been successful as a starter, no one asks the question whether I have to be in the bullpen or starting games,” Bello said. “So, just starting from there, just stop that talk, because I'm just having a bad season. That's it.
“It's not whether I'm a starter or I'm a reliever. It’s just, I’m having a bad season. I know that I can turn it around. I always have, and I think I will. I always try to come out of these difficult situations, and I think I will. It’s just right now, it’s just not the best start of the season.”
At an age in which many pitchers peak with performance, Bello has gone the other way. He is perplexed by it also.
“I feel very good with the pitches, and also I feel healthy,” Bello said. “I'm super healthy. Nothing is wrong with me. So I feel like the execution hasn't been there.”
The first-inning woes have been the biggest issue of all. After that frame on Thursday, Bello allowed just two more runs over his five-inning outing.
“Just a struggle,” Tracy said. “They hit him hard, and of all the innings, that was probably his worst strike-throwing inning, I think right around 50 percent, 21 out of 40. He got behind in some counts and they jumped him on some early-count stuff and put a big number up there.”
The postgame tenor was far different than in the morning hours.
“It just feels like for us to be successful, we need Bello to start,” Tracy said prior to the game. “We’ve beat a dead horse with this. Like, we start him, it doesn't go well. The opener doesn't do well. ‘Why did you open?’ At the end of the day, we need this guy to pitch.”