Brayan Bello dazzled over a career-high eight innings and Tyler O’Neill crushed a key two-run home run as the Boston Red Sox beat the visiting Toronto Blue Jays 3-0 on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old Bello (12-6), who worked into the eighth only once in his previous 63 major league starts, struck out nine while allowing just two hits and one walk.
Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 25th save.
Wilyer Abreu’s first-inning RBI single was the only support Bello needed, but O’Neill offered insurance in the form of a two-run homer in the eighth.
Masataka Yoshida contributed a 3-for-4 night for the Red Sox, who have won back-to-back games following a four-game losing streak.
After Bello set the tone with two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 first, Jarren Duran sparked Boston with a leadoff single to right. Duren went to second on a groundout and scored on Abreu’s two-out hit to left.
Toronto starter Chris Bassitt (9-13) limited the damage to one run, as an inning-ending strikeout of Connor Wong stranded the bases loaded following three singles and a hit batter.
Bassitt was a tough-luck loser, striking out nine over 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball. He yielded five hits and one walk.
In the second inning, Bello worked around Addison Barger’s one-out double into the left field corner.
Red Sox shortstop Ceddanne Rafaela helped out with a stellar defensive play to begin a 1-2-3 third, fielding Ernie Clement’s ground ball up the middle, spinning and firing to first for a bang-bang out.
Bello struck out two in the fourth and benefited from a 6-4-3 double play to erase a leadoff walk to Barger in the fifth.
Bassitt retired 13 straight batters between the second and sixth innings.
In the seventh, Yoshida’s leadoff single bounced just in front of diving center fielder Daulton Varsho. After Wong followed up with a hit, Bassitt and reliever Brendon Little worked out of the two-on, no-out jam to keep the score 1-0.
An inning later, Boston’s David Hamilton reached on catcher Alejandro Kirk’s fielding error on a soft bunt up the first base line. O’Neill then socked a towering homer over the Green Monster in deep left-center.
–Field Level Media