Red Sox's Brayan Bello Has 5-Word Message After Dominating Yankees

Brayan Bello is starting to become a Yankee-killer, and that's a pretty good way to ingratiate yourself with Boston Red Sox fans.

In the Bronx on Friday night, Bello was untouchable. He threw seven scoreless innings against the arch-rival New York Yankees, leapfrogging Boston over New York in the wild card standings with a 1-0 win.

It's the second-straight start against the Yankees in which Bello has gone seven shutout. And that's only the beginning of the tale of his dominance against the so-called Bronx Bombers, who can't feel good these days when they see his name listed among the probables for a series.

Brayan Bello dominating Yankees early in career

According to J.P. Long, the former Red Sox director of communications and media relations, Bello's 1.95 career ERA against the Yankees is the lowest of any pitcher this century, minimum 50 innings pitched.

And according to MLB.com's Ian Browne, Bello also became the first pitcher in Red Sox history to hold the Yankees to three hits and no runs in seven or more innings across back-to-back starts. He lowered his career ERA at Yankee Stadium to 1.44 in the process.

“Yeah, I love pitching here,” Bello said, per Browne. “The mound feels great to pitch here.”

Manager Alex Cora agreed that there was something special about the atmosphere in the Bronx that helped Bello, perhaps even beyond the pitching rubber.

“(He did) what he usually does here,” said Cora, per Browne. “He enjoys his stage. He does. Don’t know what it is, but it seems like he enjoys this atmosphere.”

Bello's resurgence is becoming a key season storyline for these Red Sox. He had a difficult 2024 campaign after signing a six-year extension, and after returning from an early-season injured list stint this year, he looked as though his spot in the rotation might be in jeopardy, especially as he endured a streak of starts in which he couldn't get through five innings.

But in 15 outings since the start of June, he's yet to be taken out of a game before the sixth inning, and owns a 2.75 ERA across 95 innings. His season mark is down to 3.07, which is eighth-best among qualified American League starters.

There are surely more outings coming for Bello against these Yankees, so developing this reputation could never be a bad thing.