Bello turned in his longest outing of the season but still wound up being saddled with a loss after reliever Brennan Bernardino allowed an inherited runner to cross the plate following his departure. He struck out four and only issued one walk. The 26-year-old righty lacks the strikeout upside to make a significant fantasy impact, but he’s allowed three earned runs or fewer in nine of his 10 starts this season. He’ll bring a respectable 3.96 ERA, 1.55 WHIP and 37/25 K/BB ratio across 52 1/3 innings into a home outing on Sunday against the Yankees.

All three runs came in the third inning, which opened with a HBP and a walk ahead of two singles. The first of those hits was legit, but the second was a 60-mph grounder that plated two runs. At least Bello was able to provide some extra length tonight after five straight starts in which he pitched between four and 4 2/3 innings. He wasn’t involved in the decision. Since winning his first two starts of the year, he’s gone 0-1 in his last seven outings. He’ll likely face the Rays next, unless maybe the Red Sox want to get aggressive and bring him back to face the Yankees on Sunday.

It’s the fifth straight start in which Bello has pitched between four and 4 2/3 innings. He was clearly unhappy about the exit today, and it probably didn’t help that he likely would have already concluded the fifth if not for a Jarren Duran error. Still, with two on and Christian Yelich coming up, bringing in lefty Brennan Bernadino was probably the right move, and it did work out for Boston. Bello wound up with his fifth no-decision in eight starts. He’s 2-1 with a 3.83 ERA but a thoroughly unimpressive 29/22 K/BB in 40 innings. He’ll face the Angels next.

He allowed six hits and walked one. It took Bello 87 pitches to get his 12 outs, so the Red Sox didn’t send him back out for the fifth. It’s the fourth straight start in which he’s failed to complete five innings, though he’s only been truly ineffective in one of those outings (he gave up seven runs to the Braves on Sunday). There might still eventually some hope of mixed-league value here, but there’s no reason to roster him right now. He’ll face either the Brewers or Braves on the road next time out.