BOSTON — Nearly immaculate in the top of the first inning and perfect through 3 1/3, Brayan Bello was the best version of himself on Tuesday night at Fenway Park.
An infield hit that third baseman Nate Eaton fielded from the outfield grass before bobbling stopped Belloâs quest for history.
But it didnât stop the righty from pitching a complete-game five-hitter as the Red Sox routed the Rockies, 10-2.
It was Belloâs first nine-inning complete game. The only previous time he went the âdistanceâ was a six-inning, rain-shorted 2-0 loss to the Yankees on Sept. 25, 2022.
Bello entered the ninth inning just three outs from his first career shutout, but he allowed a two-run homer to Hunter Goodman.
The righty registered a season-high 10 strikeouts, leading the Red Sox to their fifth straight win and seventh in the past eight games.
The tone was set from the outset as Bello threw six straight strikes to punch out the first two Colorado hitters and induced a flyout to left to end the first on just seven pitches.
While Bello was the story early on, the recently torrid Boston offense did its share later, scoring four runs with two outs in the sixth to break the scoreless tie and then tacking on another six runs in the seventh.
In that game-breaking seventh, Trevor Story mashed a three-run homer against his former team, and Jarren Duran added two more with a Statcast-projected 456-foot missile over the Boston bullpen and into the bleachers in right-center.
The Rockies didnât put a ball in play into the outfield against Bello until Brenton Doyleâs line single to left in the seventh.
