Game No. 41: Phillies at Red Sox — Brayan Bello tries to do it again
It’s May 12th and we have a battle between two teams who have each already fired their manger.
BOSTON, MA - MAY 10: Manager Chad Tracy #17 of the Boston Red Sox looks on from the dugout during the sixth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park on May 10, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images) | Getty Images One of the old adages in Major League Baseball is that all teams win a third of their games, all teams lose a third of their games, and it’s that middle third that separates pretenders from the contenders. Well, let’s just say that on paper, this is one of the games that looks like a loss for Boston.
The Red Sox have Jovani Moran opening for Brayan Bello, they’re down both Roman Anthony and Willson Contreras in the lineup (although Contreras did avoid the IL today after getting hit in the hand with a pitch on Sunday), and Mickey Gasper batting second. They’re also facing Zack Wheeler, who has a 3. 12 ERA and has been the second best starter all year for the Phillies.
But then again, the Red Sox were facing almost this exact same predicament last Tuesday when they were on the road in Detroit. They had Moran opening for Bello, were missing Roman Anthony from the lineup, and were facing the Tigers’ second best starter in Framber Valdez. But because baseball is baseball, they won that game going away 10-3.
Will something like that happen again tonight? And if it does, does Brayan Bello start to earn some trust tokens back in his quest to stay in the rotation? We’ll all find out together over the next few hours.