Brayan Bello brilliant again, but Red Sox still struggle with his opener in one-run loss at Cleveland

CLEVELAND — Nearly a month into this experiment, Brayan Bello may well have figured out the opener strategy, underscored by his best game of the season Friday: seven scoreless innings. He scattered four hits, struck out five, and walked none.

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The difficult part for the Red Sox, though, has been the opener himself.

They lost to the Guardians, 4-3, on Friday night at Progressive Field after rookie reliever Tyler Samaniego, tasked with handling the first inning, gave up four runs on six consecutive singles.

“I got singled to death,” Samaniego said. “Just tough. That loss was 100 percent on me.”

The Sox used an opener ahead of Bello four times in May, Samaniego this once and Jovani Morán the other three times. In four innings, they allowed nine runs and no scoreless appearances.

“It’s hard to figure that out,” interim manager Chad Tracy said.

Upon entering in the second, Bello was extremely efficient, throwing only 63 pitches (42 for strikes). He never threw more than 12 in any frame. Cleveland (34-25) never had more than one base runner in an inning against him.

The fourth inning yielded a milestone for Bello, who convinced hot-hitting rookie Travis Bazzana to swing and miss at a changeup just below the zone for the 500th strikeout of his career. It also was a key second out in his successful attempt to strand a runner at third base.

In seven starts, Bello has a 9.68 ERA. In four appearances out of the bullpen behind an opener, it’s 0.71.

“I don’t know that you can make sense of it,” Tracy said. “The most important thing for me right now is that he … not only looked great but had a swagger about him on the mound that we’ve seen in the past.”

Bello said through an interpreter: “I’m in a mode where I want to prove that I can start and that I can go five, six innings-plus. What better way to do that than in the role that was given to me, making the most of it?”

In the end, though, the Sox wound up on the wrong end of another tight game. Sixteen of their 25 games this month have been decided by two or fewer runs, and they have a 7-9 record in those.

Overall, the Red Sox have lost six of their past seven games to drop to 23-33 overall. It is their first time 10 games under .500 since 2020, when they finished a dozen under.

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Trying to dig out of the large early hole, the Sox rallied for three runs in the fifth against righthander Slade Cecconi, who exited after 4⅓ innings. Marcelo Mayer (single), Caleb Durbin (double), and Jarren Duran (sacrifice fly) plated runs.

The Red Sox stranded the potential tying run at second base in the seventh, third base in the eighth, and first base in the ninth (after Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s leadoff single).

Another haunting difference given the slim margin: Mickey Gasper (2 for 4) was thrown out at the plate to end the top of the second.

Kiner-Falefa’s ground ball went off the backhand of shortstop Brayan Rocchio into left field. But Gasper, coming from second, didn’t know it had rolled away, so he slowed up as he approached third — so that Rocchio wouldn’t throw behind him, he said.

Interim third base coach Chad Epperson waved Gasper in. When he realized, he had to crank it back up. Left fielder Angel Martinez uncorked an on-target 97-miles-per-hour throw, the hardest of his career.

“I’m turning my head around so I don’t get backpicked at third,” Gasper said. “So I make that turn [around third], then I picked up Eppy and I heard ‘go, go, go,’ so I put my head back down and started running.”

It left the Sox looking at the bright spot: Bello was very good — technically, as a reliever.

“The big picture, I won’t shy away from: I think Brayan Bello wants to start. And why wouldn’t he?” Tracy said before the game. “He’s had periods of time, especially last year when he got on track, that he’s shown that he can be a good starter. So I don’t shy away from being aware of what a player really, really desires.

“But I also think he understands how it’s gone in both roles. At least for right now, maybe it’s best for our team for him to keep him on track, and things can always change.”

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