Brayan Bello delivers a gem to help Red Sox sweep Yankees at Fenway Park

"A few starts back, I was fighting to get that confidence. I’m glad Alex gave me that confidence."

Brayan Bello pitched seven scoreless innings on Sunday. (AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper)

June 15, 2025

2 minutes to read

As encouraging as the Red Sox’s play has been as of late, fortune seemingly didn’t favor Boston entering the final game of its three-game Fenway set against the Yankees on Sunday afternoon.

Not only were the Red Sox set to battle against the AL’s ERA leader in southpaw Max Fried, but Boston’s starter Brayan Bello has also labored in his career during day games (5.39 ERA over 28 contests, contrasted with a 3.88 ERA in night games).

But Bello — whose inconsistent play has mirrored the performance of the Red Sox so far in 2025 — picked an opportune time to submit one of the best starts of his big-league career.

The 26-year-old righty helped Boston secure its first sweep of the Yankees since August 2023 — allowing three hits over seven scoreless innings of work en route to a 2-0 win at Fenway Park.

Bello has been plagued in his career by failing to extend late into games. But one Sunday, Alex Cora let the righty loose, as he recorded a career-high 114 pitches while striking out eight over the course of his quality start.

Despite closing out the sixth inning with 96 pitches thrown, Bello returned to the mound in the seventh with Boston nursing that two-run lead — with the starter rewarded Cora’s faith by submitting a clean 1-2-3 inning. He retired the final 12 batters he faced on Sunday.

BRAYAN BELLO MEANT BUSINESS TODAY 🔥🔥🔥

Career high in pitches with 114 ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/JQX7nOsBJl
— NESN (@NESN) June 15, 2025

“His stuff was good at the end,” Cora said postgame on NESN. “He was still good. We rolled with him and he earned that one. He was outstanding.”

Bello has been a thorn in the side of the Yankees for years. His 2.21 career ERA against New York (across nine starts) stands as the lowest against any team in his career (min. 15 innings pitched).

But on Sunday, Bello also altered his approach against the Yankees, to strong results.

As noted by MassLive’s Chris Cotillo, Bello’s first 10 starts of the season saw him throw just 23 cut fastballs — representing just 2.5 percent of his pitch mix. But against a lefty-heavy Yankees lineup, Bello delivered 38 cutters during his start — representing 33 percent of his total pitch mix in that outing.

“The cutter, for me, was a key pitch. … That was the plan today,” Bello said via translator Carlos Villoría Benitez. “We saw that the cutter was a good pitch against them and I was able to get a feel for that pitch, to locate it. I feel like it was a very good pitch for me today.”

Brayan Bello was dominant and felt good during his outing vs. the Yankees 🎙️

"I feel like all my pitches were working." pic.twitter.com/kFmVDaODJP
— NESN (@NESN) June 15, 2025

The Red Sox’ recent surge has been rooted in stronger pitching from the rotation, with Boston’s starters going 6-0 with a 2.62 ERA over their last eight games.

And while Garrett Crochet continues to look the part as Boston’s ace (2.24 ERA), the Red Sox need more starters behind him on the depth chart to start settling into a groove if this team wants to make up ground in the standings.

Bello — now with three straight quality starts on his ledger — seems to be finally finding his game for a Red Sox team looking to go on a run.

“A few starts back, I was fighting to get that confidence,” Bello noted. “I’m glad Alex gave me that confidence. Also, I’m proud of myself to be able to go out there in the seventh and throw a shutout inning.”