Yankees bury Red Sox late in 9-2 loss, raising stakes for Sunday’s Bronx finale

Brayan Bello’s transformation from struggling starter to dominant bulk reliever has been one of the more unexpected developments of the Red Sox’ turnaround.

On Saturday night, Bello came back down to earth and allowed four runs over 4 1/3 innings, the most he has surrendered in any of his 13 relief appearances, and the Yankees blew open a close game with five runs in the eighth to hand the Red Sox a 9-2 loss in Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader at Yankee Stadium.

After Boston rode Jake Bennett’s six scoreless innings to a 6-0 victory in the opener, the Yankees answered emphatically in the nightcap to earn the split. The result leaves Boston at 74-62 and three games behind New York (77-59) for the top American League Wild Card spot.

It also sets up a meaningful Sunday afternoon in the Bronx with massive postseason implications for both clubs. 

The rivals are tied 6-6 in the season series, meaning Sunday’s winner will own the head-to-head tiebreaker should they finish the regular season with identical records. A Boston victory would also send the Red Sox home exactly where they started the weekend, two games behind New York. A loss would drop them four games back.

Bello had been nearly untouchable since the Red Sox moved him out of the rotation.

The right-hander entered Saturday with a 0.99 ERA over 54 2/3 innings in 12 relief appearances, having never allowed more than one earned run in any of them. That success was a dramatic departure from his eight starts, when he posted a 10.35 ERA and eventually earned a month-long demotion to Triple-A Worcester.

Left-hander Alec Gamboa opened with 1 1/3 scoreless innings before turning things over to Bello, who escaped a potential jam almost immediately.

With runners at the corners and one out in the second, Bello induced a weak grounder back to the mound. Luis García Jr. inexplicably broke for home from third, allowing Bello to easily throw him out at the plate.

Nick Sogard then gave Boston the lead in the third after he jumped on a 93.4 mph four-seam fastball from Max Fried and drove it the opposite way, sneaking a 351-foot solo homer into the short porch in right.

A week ago, Sogard had never homered in the majors. He now has three since Sunday.

His latest came after a strong performance in the opener, when he collected two hits and made a terrific relay throw to cut down a runner at the plate.

The 1-0 lead didn’t last long when José Caballero singled to open the bottom of the third before Ben Rice tied the game with an RBI single. Bello then hit Heliot Ramos with a 1-2 pitch, and Wilyer Abreu committed an error in right as the inning began to unravel.

New York eventually scored three times, adding a run on García’s fielder’s choice and another on Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s sacrifice fly.

Bello avoided the backbreaking hit and settled down enough to carry Boston into the seventh, but he never looked like the pitcher who had dominated in his previous relief appearances.

Spencer Jones added a sacrifice fly to complete Bello’s line. The right-hander allowed four runs on five hits and a walk, striking out two while throwing 94 pitches over 4 1/3 innings.

The Red Sox have been sloppy defensively of late, committing 10 errors through seven games on the road trip, accounting for 13.5% of its 74 errors all season.

Abreu, one of baseball’s premier defensive right fielders, committed an error during New York’s three-run third and later allowed a catchable ball to fall in front of him during the eighth. Raymond Burgos also failed to cover first base during the late collapse.

The Red Sox offense didn’t provide much help; Boston went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and repeatedly failed to make the kind of situational contact that has helped fuel its second-half turnaround.

After Sogard’s homer, Connor Wong singled and eventually reached third but was stranded.

Boston mounted another threat in the sixth when Abreu and Willson Contreras reached to begin the inning. Caleb Durbin and Andruw Monasterio both struck out, and the opportunity went nowhere.

The strikeouts were particularly unusual for Durbin, who ranks in the 91st percentile in strikeout percentage and 89th percentile in whiff percentage.

The Red Sox were able to plate a run in the eighth inning when Abreu doubled, and Contreras drove him home with a triple down the right-field line, trimming New York’s lead to 4-2.

For Contreras, it was an encouraging swing amid a rare cold stretch. He entered the night with only three hits in his previous 26 at-bats but also drew two walks Saturday before delivering the RBI triple.

Suddenly, the Red Sox were within two, but the Yankees quickly nailed the hammer in Boston’s coffin. 

The Yankees buried Boston with five runs in the bottom of the eighth, pounding Burgos for seven singles and turning what had been a competitive game into a 9-2 rout.

Fried, making his return from the injured list, lasted only 3 2/3 innings and threw 63 pitches. But six Yankees relievers combined to allow one run on three hits and a walk over the final 5 1/3 innings.

One of Boston’s few other positives came from Mickey Gasper, who didn’t play in the opener and began Game 2 on the bench, but singled as a pinch-hitter in the fifth. He has now reached base in 12 of 15 plate appearances on the road trip, collecting two homers, a double, two singles and seven walks.

The Yankees have taken two of the first three games of the series, but Boston still has an opportunity to salvage a split, pull back within two games of the top Wild Card spot and clinch the season series.

If the Sox lose on Sunday, the gap between the two clubs grows to four.

Boston is expected to get some reinforcements for Sunday’s series finale, with Roman Anthony and Trevor Story set to join the team in the Bronx.

Neither Anthony nor Story will require a corresponding 40-man roster move. Both had been on the 60-day injured list, and the Red Sox entered Saturday with two open spots on the 40-man roster.

Left-hander Ranger Suarez (5-3, 3.35 ERA) will start for Boston against right-hander Will Warren (8-6, 4.39) at 1:35 p.m.