It was not as dramatic as when Clay Buchholz was pulled with a no-hitter going in 2007, but Brayan Bello’s early exit Wednesday night at Hadlock Field might be another step in a promising Red Sox career.
Bello pitched two scoreless innings, striking out three, for the Portland Sea Dogs in a 6-2 win over the Hartford Yard Goats before 4,008 at Hadlock Field. Joey Meneses’ three-run homer paced an 11-hit offense.
Like Buchholz in 2007, Bello is a 22-year-old right-hander with electric stuff. Bello is headed to the MLB All-Star Futures Game on Sunday, which restricted his outing on Wednesday, according to Manager Corey Wimberly.
“We just wanted him to get his feet wet and keep him in the same rhythm,” Wimberly said. “He has flashed outstanding stuff since he’s been here. The upside is huge for him.”
In 2007, Buchholz was also headed to the Futures Game and the Red Sox were beginning to limit his workload. On June 30, with Red Sox GM Theo Epstein in attendance, Buchholz was working on a no-hitter but was relieved after five innings.
Bello allowed one hit as he kept his fastball consistently at 96-97 mph, adding a slider and change-up.
Since his promotion to Portland, Bello has a 3.06 ERA in five starts, striking out 11 in 17 2/3 inning. Counting his six starts at advanced Class A Greenville, Bello has a 2.53 ERA with 77 strikeouts in 49 1/3 innings.
Four Sea Dogs relievers followed Bello and held the Yard Goats to only three more hits – two of them solo home runs by Elehuris Montero, off Matthew Kent and Durbin Feltman.
Denyi Reyes (3-1) was credited with the victory after pitching three scoreless innings.
Hartford lefty Nick Bush (0-1) made his Double-A debut, and four batters into the first inning, Portland led 3-0. With two on and one out, Meneses hit a Bush change-up well over the left-field wall. It was the ninth home run of the season for Meneses, who leads the team in batting average (.313) and RBI (40).
Pedro Castellano singled in two runs and went 3 for 4, raising his average to .301.
UPDATE: This story was corrected at 8:50 a.m. on July 8 to show that the Sea Dogs won the game, 6-2.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
