Sox catcher Connor Wong skipped his throw to second, with the ball caroming off second baseman Marcelo Mayer. Christian Walker took off from third for home, and Bello made a diving cutoff attempt of Mayer\u2019s throw to the plate. When the ball clanged off Bello\u2019s glove, Loperfido advanced to third. Both Wong and Mayer were charged with errors on the play.<\/p>\n
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Once the proverbial dust settled, Bello got back on the mound and was surprised when home plate umpire Mark Wegner signaled a 1 and 1 count. Bello sought clarification.<\/p>\n
The ump and everyone else forgot the count here as this should\u2019ve been a three-pitch strikeout, all swinging<\/p>\n
Astros\u2019 Cam Smith ended up walking, and Red Sox pitcher Brayan Bello was pulled from the game. Reliever Ryan Watson did retire the next batter pic.twitter.com\/zF1QcPVQqz<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI asked him [for the count],\u201d Bello said via translator. \u201cI asked him because I thought the first pitch was a strike and then I thought that he swung at the second pitch.<\/p>\n \u201cHe just gave me the count. He was clear that it was 1-1.\u201d<\/p>\n But it shouldn\u2019t have been. The count should have been 0 and 2 at that point \u2014 in which case the next pitch, a sweeper at which Smith waved and whiffed, would have been the inning-ending third strike.<\/p>\n Instead, Wegner indicated that the count was 1 and 2, and the at-bat continued. Smith saw six more pitches, fouling off three, before working a full-count walk<\/a> that ended Bello\u2019s night after 4\u2154 innings.<\/p>\n Smith was later informed by teammates in the dugout that he\u2019d been given a gift.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, I had no idea [about the count]. I lost track because [on] that throw down to second base, I lost track,\u201d Smith told reporters. \u201cI looked at the board and it said 1-1 and I was like, \u2018All right, next pitch.\u2019 I had no idea until I came back in the dugout.\u201d<\/p>\n Immediately after the game, Sox manager Alex Cora<\/a> indicated he\u2019d been unaware of the count snafu during the contest. Wegner, meanwhile, was mortified to learn of his blunder.<\/p>\n \u201cI just watched the video,\u201d Wegner told a pool reporter. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what happened until I came in [to the umpire\u2019s room after the game] and apparently I somehow didn\u2019t count the second swinging [strike] because I said the count was 1 and 2 [after the third swing]. It was actually strike three.\u201d<\/p>\n Wegner said no one on the field suggested he had the count wrong. Had someone done so, the issue could have been corrected.<\/p>\n \u201cHad anybody caught it, we can always go and call replay and check the count,\u201d Wegner said. \u201cI\u2019ve never done that before. I\u2019m not happy about it. Just made a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @alexspeier<\/a>.<\/p>\n