Brayan Bello tosses 1st complete game, Red Sox take Rockies series

Brayan Bello was perfect through innings in his first career match against the Colorado Rockies pouring on the strikes as if they could quench the steamy weather that blanketed Fenway Park on Tuesday evening Perfection didn t last but Bello did He tossed the first complete contest of his big league career in a - Red Sox triumph From the start it was clear Bello was putting together something special He opened the contest with a seven-pitch - - first inning All seven pitches were strikes He punched out two in the first K d the side in the second and picked up an additional two swinging strikeouts in an orderly third Really good especially early on lauded manager Alex Cora The first third of the meeting he was on point Got specific swing-and-misses was on top of hitters got ahead stayed ahead buried them He was really good Even after catcher Hunter Goodman s one-out single in the fourth the Red Sox righty was unflappable Though he only picked up two more strikeouts in the contest he kept the Rockies off the bases When they started making contact the strong gusting winds blowing in from right field kept the ball where Jarren Duran Ceddanne Rafaela and Roman Anthony could make catches with relative ease The Rockies didn t get another hit until one out in the eighth Goodman s ninth-inning blast ruined Bello s shutout bid but the championship belonged to Bello all the same He induced swings-and-misses and struck out a season-high batters In one of those classically odd baseball coincidences it occurred day before the one-year anniversary of Bello s second career double-digit strikeout performance It took the Red Sox righty pitches to go the distance He led with the sinker but fed the Rockies a mix of sweepers four-seamers changeups and mixed in three cutters The changeup a devastating pitch for him earlier in his career but one he s struggled to deploy consistently over the last two seasons was especially promising The sinker was good the changeup was a lot better Cora assessed Just the eye test his best changeup of the year Overall he was in control Another big night for the Boston bats If not for a one-out error in the bottom of the first Kyle Freeland s first three innings would have been perfect too The Boston bats so effective against southpaws all season made little noise against the Rockies starter who held them off until two outs in the sixth But a baseball challenge can turn on a dime and as steel- and charcoal-hued clouds began gathering over the ballpark and the first bolts of lightning cracked in the skies over Jersey Street the Red Sox turned the tables No they flipped the table and slammed it down into smithereens They did all of their scoring between the second out of the sixth and the end of the seventh Romy Gonzalez s one-out single got the ball rolling in the sixth After Roman Anthony followed with a walk Rob Refsnyder struck out but Trevor Story ended the stalemate with an RBI single to right That was the end of Freeland s night but only the beginning of the Boston barrage Rafaela greeted Juan Mejia with a two-run double and Duran brought his fellow outfielder home with an RBI single The lightning ceased The Red Sox did not Facing Jake Bird in the seventh Marcelo Mayer s one-out single opened the door Gonzalez promptly drove him in with an RBI triple which befuddled center fielder Brenton Doyle Anthony drove Gonzalez home with an RBI single and Refsnyder joined him on the diamond with a walk Story sent the first pitch he saw feet to the Green Monster seats Long gone but not as long as what happened next Boston Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story celebrates his RBI double in the sixth as the Red Sox take on the Rockies at Fenway Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill Boston Herald Duran blasted one over the Boston bullpen feet to be precise Less than hours after Gonzalez blasted a -foot homer to tie Angels star Mike Trout for the longest long ball at Fenway this season Duran surpassed them both And for an American League-leading th time this season the Red Sox run total was in the double digits A flood alert was in effect in the area until a m but the skies never opened up Bello returned to the mound inning after inning The crowd of was on its feet when he walked out for the ninth and they booed Goodman as he rounded the bases after scuttling the shutout bid And when Bello struck out Ryan McMahon on a foul tip to complete the contest moments later the Fenway faithful roared triumphantly along with him At years and days old Bello is the youngest Red Sox pitcher to throw a complete meeting since Clay Buchholz on June Unless you count the six-inning complete challenge Bello tossed as a rookie against the Yankees on Sept Boston Red Sox pitcher Brayan Bello screams out to outfielder Roman Anthony after he made the final out of an inning Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill Boston Herald The Red Sox are - including - in their last eight games Tuesday s supremacy cemented their third consecutive series win The Fenway grounds crew laid the tarp over the diamond just before p m Rain began to pelt the emerald cathedral at But like Goodman s homer the deluge was too late Nothing could spoil this special night of Boston baseball