Brayan Bello gets the ball Sunday as the Red Sox and Braves meet in the rubber match of their interleague series, with first pitch set for 1:35 p.m. in Atlanta. Boston tied the series Saturday behind Willson Contreras’s two-out, two-run homer in the eighth inning, then watched Aroldis Chapman strand the bases loaded in the ninth for a save.
The Red Sox are asking Bello to do it the old-fashioned way this time. After working behind an opener in his last two outings, he is expected to make a true start against Atlanta, a shift Boston hopes will carry over after he went 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA in those two appearances. That is a sharp turn from the first six starts of his season, when he carried a 9.12 ERA and struggled to find any rhythm.
For Boston, the appeal is obvious. The club’s 2.34 team ERA in May is the best in the American League, and Saturday’s win added to the feeling that the pitching staff is finding its footing at the right time. Payton Tolle earned the victory with eight strong innings, a performance that helped steady a team that entered Sunday at 19-26.
Atlanta counters with Grant Holmes, who will try to keep the Braves on track at 31-15. Holmes is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in two career starts against Boston, and the matchup gives him another test against a lineup that has already shown it can scratch out runs late. The series has been split through the first two games, leaving Sunday to decide which side leaves with the edge.
Bello’s day arrives with a different feel around him than it did a month ago. Carlos Narvaez said of the right-hander, “Sometimes you gotta flip something,” and added, “Flip that mentality, and coming out of the bullpen he probably thinks, ’OK, I gotta be convicted right now. It’s not like, OK, I got five innings, 90 pitches.’ Something in his mind has changed.”
The change matters because Boston has needed every bit of stability it can find. Trevor Story was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a sports hernia, and Nick Sogard was recalled from Triple-A Worcester to take his roster spot before Sunday’s game. Chad Tracy said of Story, “He’s meant a lot to me in my transition here, the way he’s accepted me and pushed other guys to do so. So he’s a big piece of it,” a reminder of what Boston loses as it tries to keep pace in a crowded stretch of the schedule.
That leaves the Red Sox with a familiar task and a new look. They have a rested bullpen, a starter who has flashed better form in his last two outings, and a road test against one of the league’s hottest teams. If Bello can carry his recent success beyond the opener setup and into a full start, Boston could leave Atlanta with more than just a split.
