Someone only tuning into their first Red Sox game of the season Saturday might not understand the significance of Brayan Bello\u2019s dominant performance against the hosting Tampa Bay Rays.<\/p>\n
Particularly as it will be forever marred by a Rays\u2019 2-1 walk-off victory that keeps Boston\u2019s postseason ticket dangling out of reach for at least another night.<\/p>\n
But before that frustrating ending, there was Bello\u2019s hard-earned triumph. It has been a tumultuous year for the homegrown right-hander, who lost his spot in the Red Sox starting rotation at the beginning of May, and pitched his way into a Triple-A demotion the first week of June. Bello dominated in a bulk-relief role from his mid-July recall through early September before the Red Sox gave him another chance to start.<\/p>\n
Making his second start of the month on Saturday, Bello turned in not only his best game of the season, but one of the best of his five-year career. He owned his team\u2019s first-place division rivals for eight innings of one-run ball. He yielded just five hits, issued no walks and matched his career-high 11 strikeouts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was exceptional,\u201d Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy told reporters. \u201cBy far and away his best outing of the year. As good as I\u2019ve seen him. So, I don\u2019t know what else to say. He was awesome, really awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bello\u2019s reward was a no-decision, as the Red Sox lineup went 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position, then lost on Rays second baseman Richie Palacios\u2019 walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth.<\/p>\n
Palacios\u2019 game-winning hit came moments after a base-running gamble by Red Sox third baseman Caleb Durbin that proved calamitous. A glimmer of hope flared when Durbin collected his second double of the day off Bryan Baker with one out in the top of the ninth. But he was then caught trying to steal third, which proved costly almost instantaneously when Jarren Duran tripled on the very next pitch. Isiah Kiner-Falefa\u2019s inning-ending groundout sent the tie game to the bottom of the ninth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m OK with it,\u201d Tracy said of Durbin\u2019s attempt to steal. \u201cIt\u2019s one-to-one game the whole way, and close play.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHindsight is 20\/20,\u201d Tracy continued. \u201cIt\u2019s easy in baseball. He gets thrown out, and then Duran has a triple. But you don\u2019t have the privilege of hindsight. So (Durbin) was working hard out there, seeing if he can get the bag, and they got him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I had a window, and probably wasn\u2019t a big enough window,\u201d Durbin told reporters. \u201cIn those situations, too, you want to be sure about it. So obviously on me. Not really any excuse other than I gotta be more sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roman Anthony gave the Red Sox an early lead for the second straight game, doubling off Rays starter Freddy Peralta with two outs in the third. Anthony\u2019s third RBI base hit of the series scored Durbin, who led off the frame with his first double.<\/p>\n
But that was all the Red Sox wrote. The home team peppered the middle innings with costly mistakes, but the visitors never took advantage.<\/p>\n
Rays centerfielder Cedric Mullins reached safely on a bunt single and advanced to second on a throwing error by Durbin to begin the bottom of the third, but Boston\u2019s third baseman immediately atoned for the miscue by completing a caught-stealing relay with catcher Adley Rutschman and shortstop Trevor Story.<\/p>\n
Tampa Bay ran out of ABS challenges by the fourth inning. Shortstop Jorge Mateo burned one on a called Strike 3 from Bello (1.2\u201d Edge Distance) for the second out of the bottom of the third. Peralta lost his team\u2019s remaining bid trying to overturn a Ball 4 with a 2.8\u201d Edge Distance, which put right-fielder Wilyer Abreu on with one out in the fourth.<\/p>\n
The worm turned in the bottom of the fourth. Boston\u2019s squandering of a one-out opportunity with Abreu and Nick Sogard (single) on first and second in the top of the inning proved costly immediately when Jonathan Aranda led off the bottom of the fourth with a first-pitch, game-tying home run.<\/p>\n
An undeterred Bello kept the Rays at bay inning after inning, and looked effortless doing so. Whereas Peralta exited after 5 2\/3 innings that required 97 pitches (59 for strikes), Bello needed 55 pitches to complete the first five frames, and his count sat at 68 at the end of the sixth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just felt confident attacking the zone,\u201d Bello told reporters via team translator.<\/p>\n
When the Rays finally threatened in the bottom of the seventh, the Sox starter was the picture of poise. Unruffled by the back-to-back singles by Liam Hicks and Chandler Simpson, Bello retired the next three men in order. The game became his longest of the season as a starter or reliever when he recorded the first out of the seventh, and when he returned to the dugout after finishing the eighth inning, it marked his deepest outing since his complete game on July 8, 2025.<\/p>\n
Asked if he felt it was the best start of his big-league career, Bello answered, \u201cThis year, I think so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, it\u2019s just showing the team that I\u2019m ready for this kind of games,\u201d Bello added.<\/p>\n
With closer Aroldis Chapman still unavailable due to lat tightness, it fell to righty Garrett Whitlock to pitch the game to extra innings. Whitlock was one strike away from stranding slugger Junior Caminero and Simpson when Palacios sent his 1-2 sinker to right field, where it plunked down in front of Abreu.<\/p>\n
The loss means Sunday is the earliest the Red Sox can punch their ticket to October. The current playoff picture has the Red Sox and Yankees meeting in a rematch of last year\u2019s best-of-three Wild Card series at Yankee Stadium. If Boston gets beyond that, they could see Tampa Bay again.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s intensity felt like a preview to the Red Sox. Durbin hopes they can turn the experience into an advantage.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven yesterday and tomorrow, like they got a little bit of a playoff feel,\u201d Durbin said. \u201cI feel like last year (with the Milwaukee Brewers), first couple playoff games \u2026 adrenaline\u2019s way higher. So to get that feel before playoffs even start is super important, because it usually takes a couple games to really settle in.\u201d<\/p>\n
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