Brayan Bello strikes out seven in six innings vs. Pirates

PITTSBURGH — There is no argument regarding how well Boston’s starting pitching has been this season. And if their Opening Day starter keeps trending in the direction he has to start the season, the rotation could remain one of the best in the Majors despite the injuries it has had to endure in April.

Brayan Bello held the Pirates, who had collected eight double-digit hit games in their first 19 of the season, to just one hit, blanking them en route to a 8-1 win at PNC Park on Friday night.

Outside of an uneven start in Oakland, where he allowed four runs in five innings, Bello had been solid ahead of his outing vs. the Pirates, but he had yet to complete six innings as he had done in more than half of his starts last season. However, he finally got through the sixth frame in his fifth start — exactly the same as he did in 2023.

It helped him massively to have the run support that the Red Sox batters provided. They slugged four home runs while he was on the mound, and the damage proved to be unrelenting against the Pirates’ pitchers. Boston scored runs in five different innings.