Bello Will Boost Boston's Chances To Beat Pirates

Red Sox vs. Pirates, 6:40 ET

I wrote a story about one of the starters in this game last season. The reason that I chose the game was because I knew his mother (I used to work with her) and I wanted to recognize her son's accomplishment. Unfortunately, that start didn't go very well, and he struggled a bit over the remainder of the season. That's fine because he has good stuff and I expect him to find a way to make the progress needed to become a viable starter for a long time. That person is Quinn Priester, and he's back today for the Pirates and takes on the Boston Red Sox.

The Red Sox got the best of me the other day as they combined with the Guardians to allow far too many runs in the first five innings. I probably should've laid off that game altogether, but you live and you learn - the importance of bankroll management. It is also good to evaluate the bets you make regularly - are they stupid bets, or just a bad outcome? This was probably somewhere in between. Anyway, the Red Sox have actually been a very good baseball team away from their home stadium in this early portion of the season, as they are now 7-3 on the year away from Fenway. Offensively, the team has struggled quite a bit out of the gate with just a .224 batting average. They do have a nice amount of pop from the team with 24 home runs on the season, but they are going to need to string together hits more often in order to be most effective. The pitching is what has really shined for the club thus far. As a staff they have a stellar 2.70 ERA and are holding opposing hitters to .224 as well. Their strikeout-to-walk ratio is almost 4:1. Brayan Bellow is taking the mound for the Red Sox, and he is one of my preferred pitchers on the staff. He has had a decent start to the season, going five innings at least in all four starts. He has only one start where he allowed more than two earned runs as well. The majority of Pirates hitters have never seen Bello, so he may be able to work through the lineup with limited damage.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 14: Andrew McCutchen #22 of the Pittsburgh Pirates reacts after hitting his 300th career home run in the top of the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on April 14, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

The Pirates are off to a nice start, but keep in mind they were around .500 at the All-Star Break last season. The team still ended up struggling in the second half and faded from the playoff race. That is more to temper expectations than it is to knock the productivity so far. The offense is doing fairly well for Pittsburgh to this point with a .244 batting average. Even the pitching staff is doing well with a 3.94 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. They have to be happy to head home and get a day off after losing four of their past five, including being swept by the Mets in their most recent series. This will be just the sixth home game for the Pirates of the season, so having a winning record with all of these road games is a positive. I'm guessing that Priester will hope to make a strong debut this season. Last year, he pitched 50 innings and allowed 12 home runs and 43 earned runs. He only posted one quality start last year but it was one of his last starts of the season which could mean he was starting to figure things out. 

To me this has to be a game to bet on the Red Sox. I truly believe Priester will be a good pitcher for quite some time with the Pirates, but I need to see it before I will back him. In this game, I want to take the Red Sox as I like Bello and think he has the edge in this contest. I'm going to back Boston to win this one through five innings. 

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