Red Sox right-hander Brayan Bello has posted a 2.80 ERA over his last eight starts, striking out 41 in 45 innings. Charles Krupa/Associated Press
Red Sox fans got a glimpse of the future this weekend in New York. Boston took 2 of 3 from the Yankees over the weekend in one of the unlikeliest series the rivals have ever played.
Why unlikely? Because these two teams, known for grinding out at-bats and mashing their way to victories, locked up in three straight pitcher duels. The first two games took less than 2 1/2 hours to play and the third – which went to extra innings – took fewer than three.
Red Sox and Yankees playing tidy, well-pitched games? Certainly not what we expected.
We also didn’t expect the three young Boston starters who got the nod from Manager Alex Cora to start the weekend to dominate the New York lineup. Starters Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck and Brayan Bello combined to throw 19 1/3 innings at Yankee Stadium and gave up just five runs. It would’ve been lower if Jose Trevino’s routine ground ball didn’t bounce off second base and over the head of Kiké Hernández on Sunday night.
“I felt like saying, ‘You know what? Let’s go home,’ ” Cora told reporters after the game.
Just three weeks past his 24th birthday, Bello picked up his team by posting five more scoreless innings after the Trevino “hit.” He kept the Yankees at bay until Hernández scored the tying run in the eighth. The Sox won in 10.
Bello has posted a 2.80 ERA over his last eight starts, striking out 41 in 45 innings. He’s shown more confidence as the season has gone on, giving up more than two earned runs in just one of those starts.
The Sox have long believed Bello has the stuff to be a mid- to upper-rotation arm. That belief is being rewarded. The team has also given Whitlock and Houck a chance to prove they can settle in as quality starters. Each has appeared more as a reliever than as a starter, but the team knows how difficult it is to cultivate a rotation. Whitlock turned 27 on Sunday and Houck will turn 27 later this month. If they can settle into the starting roles, it could change the short-term future of the franchise.
In Boston’s first visit to New York this season they both showed why they deserve the chance. Whitlock gave up just one run over 6 1/3 innings in Friday night’s 3-2 win. Houck gave up two runs in a 3-1 loss Saturday night.
All of this comes as the Sox are once again settling into life without Chris Sale, now on the 60-day IL with a shoulder injury. It’s the same injury Jacob deGrom dealt with last year, one that kept deGrom out for more than four months. If Sale pitches again this season it will be very late in the year.
James Paxton has stepped in as the rotation’s top starter. He’s been strong, posting a 3.81 ERA, but there are always concerns of an injury-related setback for a 34-year old who has only thrown 47 2/3 innings over the last four years. Like Sale, his return is impressive. The Sox are hoping the similarities between the two starters end there.
The Red Sox returned to Fenway Park for the start of a series against Colorado at 33-33. They’ve gone 12-19 since an eight-game winning streak hinted at a fun summer of baseball. Runs have suddenly become hard to come by. Over the last three weeks Boston has hit just .197 with men on base.
They’re trying to tread water until outfielder Adam Duvall gets back up to speed, and until infielder Trevor Story could potentially return to the mix. They’re also trying to show that they are a team worth investing in before the trade deadline. The rest of this month will tell us if Red Sox President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom looks for help outside the organization, or starts to deal off the serviceable parts of this team and once again regroups for future seasons.
Cora admitted over the weekend that the organization is looking for starting depth outside the organization. That’s an obvious place to help this team.
Thanks to an impressive weekend from three young starters, the need is not quite as drastic as it seemed to be a few weeks back.
Tom Caron is a studio host for the Red Sox broadcast on NESN. His column appears in the Portland Press Herald on Tuesdays.
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