“Induce them to quick outs and be efficient, and give us five or six innings.”
That was Alex Cora’s hope and request of Brayan Bello ahead of his Saturday afternoon start against the Cleveland Guardians.
Bello complied with a strong, effective outing, but it was nearly spoiled by one of the bullpen’s worst outings of the season. A strong showing by the lineup, particularly the bottom half, pulled off a 10th-inning 8-7 victory.
Despite a bleeding blister on the index finger of his pitching hand, Bello mostly breezed through five innings of one-run ball. After allowing a leadoff hit, he settled down and only allowed four more over his time on the mound. The 23-year-old righty didn’t issue a walk until the fifth, when the blister situation worsened. Despite walking a pair, he got out of the inning. Dating back to Sept. 14, 2022, he’s issued no more than two walks in each of his last seven starts.
“This is a team that, they’re going to put the ball in play,” Cora said of the Guardians before the game, but for the first two-thirds of the game, it was his lineup making noise, consistently.
They knocked Cleveland starter Zach Plesac out of the game before he could complete the fourth inning; he threw 57 pitches, and the Red Sox tagged him for five earned runs on eight hits, including Rafael Devers’ 10th home run of the season, which put Boston on the board 3-0 in the first inning, leads the American League, and moved him into a tie with Reggie Smith for 18th most in franchise history.
Thanks to a career-high three-hit game by Connor Wong, and RBI from Enmanuel Valdez and Christian Arroyo, the Red Sox carried a comfortable 6-1 lead into the seventh.
That’s when things came apart. The Red Sox bullpen, which entered Saturday’s game with the 11th-best ERA in the majors, needed three pitchers to get through one disastrous frame.
After Bleier gave up a solo home run to Andrés Giménez, Ryan Brasier took over and loaded the bases on a single and pair of walks, leaving a mess for John Schreiber, who became the third pitcher of the inning. Schreiber spent most of 2022 cleaning up bases-loaded messes, but gave up a diamond-clearing double to Josh Naylor, and suddenly, it was a one-run game.
The events of the top of the seventh put a damper on the home team, which didn’t collect a hit in their next two frames.
As the intermittent drizzle that had persisted throughout the afternoon turned into a steady mist, Josh Winckowski pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, paving the way for Kenley Jansen to take over.
But for the first time this season, the veteran closer couldn’t get the job done. After eight scoreless appearances, he allowed his first run of the season, tying the game. It was his first blown save since Sept. 11, 2022.
Jansen looked uncomfortable on the mound and walking off, which Cora later explained was due to him pitching through back spasms. The closer felt it while running before the game, but still wanted to make himself available. He’ll rest up on Sunday, but “hopefully, he’ll be back on Monday,” the manager said.
The Red Sox loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn’t bring a run home. Three hours and four minutes after first pitch, Brennan Bernardino began the 10th inning.
Mike Zunino always frustrated the Red Sox when he came to town with the Mariners (2013-18) and Rays (’19-22), hitting seven home runs (among other things) at Fenway in 25 career games, and adding his eighth on Friday night. He continued to torment the home team in the top of the 10th, when the catcher gave Cleveland their first lead of the game on an RBI single.
But that was all they’d get, and the Red Sox lineup wasn’t willing to relinquish this game. In the bottom of the 10th, Christian Arroyo tied it up, and Alex Verdugo walked it off. He’s had the game-winning RBI in two of Boston’s three walk-off wins this month.
A win is a win, but this one falls squarely in the ‘Ugly Win’ category, not so much because it was almost a loss, but because of how it was almost lost.
Handed a low-leverage situation on a silver platter, the bullpen turned it into a nail-biter. Brasier has now allowed eight earned runs on eight hits and four walks over his last five appearances, totaling 4 ⅔ innings. His ERA jumped up to 8.36 on the season (14 games), and it’s becoming impossible to understand why the Red Sox can continue to carry him on the roster. Schreiber’s fastball velocity is ranging a couple miles-per-hour lower than last year, and he’s been significantly more hittable.
“I am concerned, I am concerned” Cora said after, a serious look on his face. “Gotta be better.” He didn’t go into detail about the seventh, but did stress, “We can’t go to the same guys every time.”
But the manager had high praise for Bernardino (“He did an amazing job.”), and Wong, whom he says is “becoming a game-changer” defensively. “The more he plays, the better he’s looking,” Cora lauded.
He’s also proud of Devers, whose defense has been Gold Glove-caliber this season, and Saturday, in particular. “Hard work pays off,” he said. “He made a conscious effort … two years ago, him and Bogaerts, working on their first step and all that, and you can see them both, the one on the West Coast playing good defense, and this kid, doing an amazing job.”
Winning a Gold Glove is on the third baseman’s mind, Cora says. “I always say, you know, when you hit 30 (home runs) and drive in 100 (RBI), the one thing you want to win is a Gold Glove, and I know he wants one.”
A month into the season, there’s an abundance of reasons to feel good about the 2023 Red Sox. There’s also a few too many causes for concern.
Both were prominently displayed on Saturday night.