This consistency is killing the Red Sox.
For one, the inability to sustain momentum, particularly at Fenway Park, remains a very real issue for Chad Tracy's club. After the optimism of Saturday's 8-1 win over the Orioles, the Sox came back down to Earth ... again. This time, the plummet came in the form of an 8-2 loss to the O's, dropping to a remarkable 1-8-1 record in home series.
And then there is Brayan Bello.
The Red Sox's latest attempt at allowing Bello to start a game without an opener resulted in the usual result, with the Orioles scoring six runs against the righty. It raised Bello's first-inning ERA to 16.88, having now made eight starts. In the four games he hasn't started, the ERA has landed at 0.71.
This was the Red Sox throwing Bello in the deep end of the pool once again, knowing he would ultimately have to learn how to stay afloat. That was made clear by Tracy before the series finale. "For us to be successful, we need Bello to start," said the interim manager. "I mean, we’ve beaten a dead horse with this. Like, we start him, it doesn’t go well. The opener doesn’t do well. Why did you open? At the end of the day, we need this guy to pitch."
The problem is that in these games, Bello pitches, neither the pitcher nor his team can even tread water.
The Red Sox are now 2-10 in games Bello appears, with the team allowing at least one first-inning run in each of the last six outings.
The conundrum is certainly a unique one, particularly considering how dominant Bello becomes after that first inning. This was another example of him putting the first inning in the rearview mirror, bouncing back from that 40-pitch initial frame to surrender two runs in his next four frames.
The entire package offered the usual discomfort for those Fenway fans basking in the sun-soaked day game. A big part of it was Bello's existence, but it also certainly didn't help matters that the Red Sox offense let Trevor Rogers return to his 2025 form.
The lefty came into the game with the Orioles having lost each of Rogers' last seven starts, with the O's Opening Day starter totaling a 10.01 ERA over that span. This time around, however, the Red Sox couldn't even muster a single hit until Andruw Monasterio's one-out double in the fifth inning.
It all led to the Red Sox dropping to 10-21 at Fenway Park, with 14 of the losses now coming with the hosts scoring two or fewer runs.
