Brayan Bello didn't exactly deal a gem against the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night, but he did find one area of the game to dominate.
Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Brayan Bello (66) makes his way to the bullpen before the start of the game against the Oakland Athletics at Fenway Park
The 25-year-old right-hander went 5.1 innings deep for the Boston Red Sox, earning the win after his team emerged with a 12-9 victory. Bello gave up two runs in the first inning, then another three on a home run in the sixth, getting chased off the mound during his third pass through Oakland's lineup.
When the A's weren't doing damage, though, Bello was mowing them down in historic fashion.
Bello had nine strikeouts through 3.0 innings, punching out every Oakland batter who did not reach base. Bello opened the fourth with a 10th strikeout, then brought his total to 11 by the end of the frame.
According to MLB.com's Sarah Langs, Bello became the first Red Sox pitcher since at least 1969 to rack up nine strikeouts in 3.0 innings, as well as the first to record 11 Ks in 4.0 innings. Bello also tied the expansion era MLB record by getting each of his first 10 outs via strikeouts.
Only two pitchers had achieved that prior to Bello – Aaron Nola on June 25, 2021, and Andrew Heaney on April 10, 2023.
Bello didn't add another strikeout to his total in the fifth or sixth innings, ending the night with a career-high 11. He allowed nine hits, two walks and five earned runs before getting the hook.
The Red Sox signed Bello to a six-year, $55 million contract extension in March, locking up their most promising homegrown starting pitcher in over a decade. Bello is now 9-5 with a 5.40 ERA, 1.488 WHIP, 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings and a -0.3 WAR in 2024, so he hasn't exactly lived up to the price tag thus far.
Bello has shown flashes of brilliance, however, even before his historic outing on Tuesday. In his 40 starts between Sept. 3, 2022, and May 12, 2024, Bello went 18-16 with a 3.85 ERA and 1.327 WHIP.
With that kind of prolonged reliability, as well as the heights he reached in Tuesday's up-and-down start, Bello has proven himself a viable starter for Boston. Now it's just a matter of how well he can even things out.
