One day after the Red Sox got a dominant outing from Ranger Suárez, Boston turned to Brayan Bello.
The 26-year-old was the polar opposite, struggling to find any rhythm on the mound. Bello labored through a 35-pitch first inning and once again failed to provide length, not reaching six innings for the third time this season.
When Red Sox starters go at least six innings, Boston is 8-0. When they don’t, the club is 0-12. It’s a trend Alex Cora has emphasized since spring: if the Red Sox pitch, they’ll win.
Bello, however, couldn’t deliver. He lasted just four innings, allowing four runs on five hits, with three walks and four strikeouts. He threw 84 pitches, only 47 for strikes, in another inconsistent outing, that resulted in a 4-1 loss on Saturday afternoon.
“With two strikes, I’m not being competitive in the zone,” Bello said (through interpreter Carlos Villoria Benítez). “Early in the count, I’m not being aggressive enough. That’s something I need to work on.”
In the first inning, Bello was facing Tigers rookie phenom Kevin McGonigle and worked the count into his favor, 1-2. McGonigle was able to battle back and turn that into a lead-off single. Colt Keith had a two-strike hit with one out. Bello walked Riley Greene on five pitches and a bases-loaded walk to Kerry Carpenter despite being ahead 1-2.
Once the Tigers plated their first run of the game, it seemed like a massive bump for a team that had their ace on the mound, two-time Cy Young Award winner, Tarik Skubal.
“He wasn’t efficient early on,” Cora said following the game. “That’s something we’ve been talking about as a pitching staff. It feels like we get ahead, but we don’t stay ahead. We let them back in the count. You have to bury guys, especially 0-2 or 1-2. That’s when you get your strikeouts. He wasn’t able to do that today.”
After his tumultuous first inning, Bello retired six straight batters in the second and third. In the fourth inning, Bello hit a wall. With one out, Carpenter stayed on a changeup and made it a 2-0 game with a homer into the Tigers' bullpen. Wenceel Pérez walked on five pitches, marking Bello’s third free pass of the game, and Javier Báez doubled on the first pitch of his at-bat. That set the stage for Jake Rogers to make it 3-0 with a sacrifice fly to center and McGonigle to rip a cutter into right field to make it a four-run lead.
Kerry Carpenter plants a homer into the bullpen to double the @Tigers lead 💪 pic.twitter.com/Csx0fr1rJJ
— MLB (@MLB) April 18, 2026
“He was falling behind in the count from Pitch 1,” first baseman Willson Contreras said of his teammate in Bello following the loss. “He threw too many of the same pitch, I guess. Any pitcher in the big leagues falling behind in the count, they’re going to get hurt. If you’re playing against a team that has really good plate discipline, they’re going to make you throw strikes. That was the key today.”
Outside of his strong outing against the Cardinals last Sunday, when he allowed two earned runs over 6 2/3 innings, Bello has been largely ineffective.
He needed