Orioles’ six-run first inning against Brayan Bello sinks Red Sox in series finale at Fenway

Sport admin June 4, 2026 0 Comments

Orioles’ six-run first inning against Brayan Bello sinks Red Sox in series finale at Fenway

With more than a month of the Brayan Bello bulk-start experiment to judge, Red Sox manager Chad Tracy was clear about where the organization stood.

“It just feels like for us to be successful, we need Bello to start,” he said.

Tracy was just as clear about the role Bello preferred for himself.

“Bello wants to start,” Tracy said. “Brayan Bello believes he’s a starter — and we do, too.”

The first inning of the getaway game against the Orioles on Thursday at Fenway Park was supposed to be a transition back into a more traditional role for Bello. It turned into a referendum on whether it’s a role he can still serve.

The boos — which started as a sprinkle as Bello’s outing started tumbling downhill, then turned into a downpour once it eventually spiraled — were instant feedback.

Bello allowed six runs in the first frame, digging an impossible hole for the Sox on the way to an 8-2 loss.

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Bello lasted five innings, but the Sox never recovered.

He gave up at least seven runs for the second time in a little more than two weeks (it was the third time in 12 starts this season that he’s allowed that many). For the fifth time this season, he was tagged for at least seven hits. It was the fifth time he walked at least three batters in an outing. He also hit Gunnar Henderson in the first inning, his first hit batsmen of the year.

As unsightly as Bello’s first inning was, the flip side was still that the Sox offense didn’t have enough in the tank to help him even if he hadn’t nosedived.

No one in baseball has given up more first-inning runs this season than Bello, who ran his total to 15 yesterday despite being on the mound just eight times to start games.

Using an opener seemed like a reasonable solution, particularly once Tracy took over for Alex Cora on April 25.

In a vacuum, Bello’s four bulk outings were solid. He gave up four earned runs in 25⅓ innings in the experimental role compared with 35 in 30⅔ innings as a traditional starter, prior to Thursday.

But in solving Bello’s first-inning issues, the Sox created another.

Jovani Morán opened three games for Bello and gave up five runs in three innings.

He gave up a pair of first-inning runs on May 5 against the Tigers, but the Sox offense erased it with one of its best performances of the season in a 10-3 win.

He handed Bello a 1-0 deficit on May 12 against the Phillies, giving up a homer to Kyle Schwarber. And on a night when the Sox bats could only muster one run, that was the difference.

And he gave up a pair of first-inning runs in a loss to the Twins on May 23.

The Sox tried using Tyler Samaniego against the Guardians on May 29, and he gave up four first-inning runs in a 4-3 loss.

“We beat a dead horse with this,” Tracy said. “We start him, it doesn’t go well. The opener doesn’t do well, why did you use an opener? At the end of the day, we need this guy to pitch.”