Brayan Bello allows four runs, Red Sox bats fall silent in Game 2 loss

Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald on Aug 29, 2026

Published in Baseball

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What a strange season Brayan Bello is having.

On one hand, the fifth-year big league veteran has had a miserable season as a starter, posting a 10.35 ERA in eight starts and earning himself a month-long demotion to Triple-A.

On the other hand, Bello has been so dominant out of the bullpen that when he allowed four runs to the New York Yankees on Saturday night, it was genuinely surprising.

Coming into the weekend Bello hadn’t allowed more than one earned run in any of his first 12 bullpen appearances, posting a 0.99 ERA over 54 2/3 innings of relief. But Saturday against the Yankees Bello had to battle through adversity for the first time since being called back up to the majors, and with little support from his offense he and the Red Sox wound up taking the 9-2 loss in the second game of the doubleheader.

Nick Sogard hit a solo home run in the top of the third and Willson Contreras came through with an RBI triple in the eighth, but outside of that Boston’s bats collectively went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.

The Yankees finished the Red Sox off with five runs in the bottom of the eighth, turning a competitive 4-2 game into a rout.

Bello came on midway through the second inning after left-hander Alec Gamboa gave the Red Sox 1 1/3 scoreless innings as the opener. His offense gave him a 1-0 lead shortly afterwards when Sogard led off the top of the third with a solo home run to the short right-field porch, but things got uncomfortable when the Yankees rallied in the bottom of the inning.

Jose Caballero led off with a single and came around to tie the game on a Ben Rice RBI single two batters later. Bello subsequently loaded the bases with nobody out after hitting Heliot Ramos with a pitch, putting him in the kind of jam that usually ended poorly during some of his biggest blowups as a starter.

Bello didn’t escaped unscathed, but he kept things from spiraling out of control.

New York wound up scoring three runs in the inning, adding an RBI fielder’s choice on a grounder by Luis Garcia Jr. and a sacrifice fly by Jazz Chisholm Jr. The Yankees did not, however, get the backbreaking hit that could have blown the game open.

Bello ultimately pitched into the seventh inning, allowing a sacrifice fly to Spencer Jones to wrap up his night. He was charged with four runs over 4 1/3 innings with five hits, a walk and two strikeouts on 94 pitches.

Other than Sogard’s solo shot, the Red Sox offense couldn’t sustain any momentum.

Following the third-inning homer Connor Wong singled and was eventually stranded at third base. Boston didn’t get another runner into scoring position until the sixth, when Wilyer Abreu and Willson Contreras reached with no outs but didn’t advance any further.

Max Fried, who was making his first start back off the injured list, only threw 3 2/3 innings and 63 pitches for the Yankees. But the bullpen had six relievers combine to allow one run over 5 1/3 innings, collectively surrendering three hits and one walk while striking out six.

The Red Sox finally showed signs of life in the top of the eighth when Abreu doubled off Brent Headrick and scored on Contreras’ RBI triple down the right field line to make it 4-2, but Andruw Monasterio grounded out to end the inning.

New York answered with five runs on seven singles off Raymond Burgos in the bottom of the eighth, and Yankees reliever Brendan Beck shut the door in the top of the ninth.

By splitting the doubleheader the Yankees (77-59) moved three games back up on the Red Sox in the standings, ensuring they will remain in the top AL wild-card spot once the weekend is over. The Red Sox (74-62) can still clinch the season series and get back to two games behind with a win on Sunday.

All-Star left-hander Ranger Suarez (5-3, 3.35) will take the hill for Boston against Yankees right-hander Will Warren (8-6, 4.39) for the finale. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. ET.

Story, Anthony nearing return

Trevor Story (sports hernia surgery) and Roman Anthony (sprained right hand) were both removed from Saturday’s WooSox game after seven innings and are potentially in play to return to the big league roster for Sunday’s series finale in New York.

Story went 1 for 3 with a double in the 9-1 WooSox loss, and Anthony went 0 for 2 with a walk.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa (left forearm inflammation) is expected to be a couple of days behind Story and Anthony in his progression and is more likely to return when rosters expand on Sept. 1. Kiner-Falefa got the start at second base and went 2 for 4 with a run scored.

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