The Boston Red Sox and host Atlanta Braves have authored two dramatic finishes to begin their weekend interleague series.
What will Sunday’s rubber game have in store?
Boston hands the ball to right-hander Brayan Bello (2-4, 6.46 ERA) as it looks to build off a 3-2 Saturday win, which came on the strength of a two-out, two-run home run by Willson Contreras in the eighth inning. Aroldis Chapman stranded the bases loaded in the ninth for a save, making the big swing and Payton Tolle’s eight-inning start stand tall.
“It feels great to be able to help the team,” Contreras said. “We’re trying to play better baseball, we’re trying to have better at-bats. … I come here every single day to play baseball and play for the guys. Tonight, we played for each other.”
Tolle and Bello have helped the Red Sox pitch the ball incredibly well in May, as their 2.34 team ERA for the month is tops in the American League.
Sunday is expected to be a true start for Bello, who has followed an opener in each of his last two outings. After going 1-4 with a 9.12 ERA through six starts to begin the season, Bello is 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA in his last two outings (13 1/3 innings).
Bello followed Jovani Moran into the game and ultimately tossed 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball in his Tuesday appearance against the Philadelphia Phillies.
“Sometimes you gotta flip something,” Boston catcher Carlos Narvaez said. “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.”
In three career starts against Atlanta, Bello is 1-1 with a 6.61 ERA.
The Red Sox started Saturday with shortstop Trevor Story being placed on the 10-day injured list with a sports hernia, but he is contemplating surgery that would sideline him for at least six weeks. Nick Sogard was recalled from Triple-A Worcester to take Story’s roster spot.
“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,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said of Story.
The Braves were unable to duplicate their series-opening magic, as Mike Yastrzemski — a Massachusetts native and grandson of Red Sox legend Carl — hit a 10th-inning double to make the difference in a 3-2 Friday win.
On Saturday, they were held to just four hits by the duo of Tolle and Chapman. Drake Baldwin and Jose Azocar both had two, with the former leading off the bottom of the first with a home run. It was the team’s National League-leading 64th of the season.
“Bryce (Elder) was throwing the ball well, pitch count was OK. It’s unfortunate (to lose),” Atlanta skipper Walt Weiss said. “The game was going to be Bryce and Martin (Perez).”
Baldwin, the reigning NL Rookie of the Year, has swung a hot bat of late. He has socked first-inning homers in the first two games of the series.
“There’s no egos here,” Yastrzemski said earlier this week. “Nobody feels like they own any piece of this team. We’re all pulling on the same rope together, the same direction. Whatever opportunities come for you that day, that’s good enough.”
Grant Holmes (2-1, 4.35) looks to earn his first win since April 24 against Philadelphia and lift Atlanta in the series. Last Tuesday, Holmes allowed two runs on one hit and four walks while striking out five in a four-inning start against the Chicago Cubs.
The Braves have won four consecutive Holmes starts.
Holmes is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in two career starts against the Red Sox, both coming in May of last season.
–Field Level Media
