Red Sox Minor Lines: Brayan Bello shines in Triple-A debut

Worcester W 5-2

Jarren Duran, CF: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Jeter Downs, SS: 0-4, 1 K, 1 E

Ryan Fitzgerald, RF: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI

Rob Refsnyder, DH: 1-2, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Connor Wong, C: 2-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB

Brayan Bello (SP): 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 10 K (94 pitches)

Eduard Bazardo (H): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (16 pitches)

Phillips Valdez (H): 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (15 pitches)

Kaleb Ort (SV): 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (13 pitches)

Pretty decent start to his Triple-A career for Brayan Bello, eh? The young righty had absolutely no trouble here adjusting to a new level, missing a ton of bats and only giving up a couple of runs. He did give up one home run, but he also got unlucky on some weak contact through the day as well for the hits. The jump to Triple-A is no small thing as he’s now facing players with legitimate major-league experience, but you wouldn’t know it from this line. Especially considering that he did struggle last summer with the jump to Double-A, this shows some real growth and just further supports that we could very well see him later this year in Boston.

Portland W 4-1

David Hamilton, 2B: 0-4

Nick Sogard, 3B: 2-4, 1 R

Devlin Granberg, CF: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 R

Pedro Castellanos, 1B: 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, 1 K

Jay Groome (SP): 6 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K (79 pitches)

What a bizarre line here from Groome, who only struck out one and allowed 10 baserunners (he also hit a batter), but somehow got through six scoreless innings. In fact, the Portland staff as a whole allowed 12 hits but only allowed one run, in part thanks to four double plays. For Groome, while it wasn’t a dominant start it’s nice to see him grind through an outing where he clearly wasn’t at his best but still get big-time results. And then there’s Castellanos, who represented all of the offense. That includes in the bottom of the ninth when, with the game tied at one, he launched a three-run homer to walk it off. It’s been a tough season for Castellanos, who’s only hitting .188 with a .570 OPS, but maybe this big day can turn things around.

Greenville L 3-6 (F/10)

Nick Yorke, DH: 0-5

Tyler McDonough, LF: 0-4, 1 K

Ceddanne Rafaela, CF: 2-4, 1 3B, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI

Alex Binelas, 1B: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K

Matthew Lugo, SS: 2-4, 1 2B, 2 K

Gilberto Jimenez, RF: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI

Nicholas Northcut, 3B: 1-4, 2 K

Brendan Cellucci (SP): 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K (32 pitches)

Brian Van Belle: 7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K (88 pitches)

A day after hitting for the cycle, Rafaela decides to take it easy on Wednesday, just hitting a triple and a home run and leaving the singles and doubles to whoever else wants them. It’s been an incredible season for him so far, and the power has really been striking. As for the pitching, it was another day of using an opener for Greenville, and it worked well with Van Belle really pitching well as a bulk guy. It’s been a tough year overall for him, but maybe this unlocks something and pushes him towards being more of a swingman.

Salem L 2-10

Eddinson Paulino, SS: 1-4, 2 K, 1 E

Brainer Bonaci, 2B; 1-4, 1 2B, 1 R

Blaze Jordan, 3B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R

Nathan Hickey, C: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 K

Eduardo Lopez, DH: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 K

Phillip Sikes, LF: 2-4, 2 2B, 2 K

Gabriel Jackson (SP; L): 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 K (76 pitches)

Not much to say about this one. It was a tough game for Salem, who once again had Marcelo Mayer on the bench. They did manage to hit six doubles, but failed to really capitalize on that. More positively, Jordan continues to hit well with two more hits in this game.

Player of the Day: Pedro Castellanos

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