Los Angeles Angels at Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox opened the penultimate homestand of the season on Monday afternoon without an opener. This, even though it was Brayan Bello’s day to pitch.  After a second half of the season mostly filled with excellence in bulk relief, Bello went back to his roots, starting his first game for Boston since June 4. Considering the precedent this season -- Bello had been 1-6 with a 10.35 ERA in eight starts -- it seemed like a fairly bold move by Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy.   But it turned out to be the right decision, and perhaps the right opponent in the Angels, who are 29th in the Majors in runs. Over five scoreless innings -- which included four hits, two walks, seven strikeouts and 103 pitches -- Bello helped lead the Red Sox to a 5-2 victory over the Angels at Fenway Park, stretching the team’s latest winning streak to five games.  “Obviously when they told me yesterday, I was super happy and my only thought was to have a good outing today and help my team win, and I’m glad it went my way today,” said Bello. “At the beginning, I felt kind of weird, but I was able to find myself again and I was able to get the rhythm back on quickly.” At 80-65, the Sox are as many as 15 games over .500 for the first time this season. It was a long climb to get there, considering Tracy’s squad was 14 under (32-46) on June 24.  For Bello, this was his first win as a starter since April 12 at St. Louis and the seventh scoreless start of his career. The decision to pitch Bello on Monday was a calculated one by Tracy and his staff to give the five other starters extra rest for the remainder of the week. Here were some other takeaways from a strong start to the week.  **1\. Adley, meet “Pesky!”** Every time a Red Sox hitter hits a flyball down the line in right field at Fenway Park, the entire dugout yells “Pesky.” The foul pole in right is named after the late Johnny Pesky, who hit 13 homers in his time with the Red Sox, but many of them were allegedly hit near, around or off that pole.  There was no question where Rutschman’s towering, 112.1 mph missile landed on Monday afternoon. The hardest-hit ball of his career (per Statcast) hit high off the mesh that surrounds Pesky’s Pole.