Brayan Bello looked regular-season ready on Thursday, tossing six scoreless innings in the Red Sox’s 4-2 win over the Minnesota Twins.
Bello struck out seven and allowed three hits and no walks. He threw 49 of his 69 pitches for strikes, and the only baserunners the Twins managed came on a pair of singles, a ground-rule double and one runner who reached on an error.
Thursday marked the latest gem for Bello, whose spring got off to a rough start but he has rounded into form as the weeks have gone on.
After allowing nine earned runs in 3 1/3 innings through his first two Grapefruit League starts, Bello has since given up just one earned run over 19 innings (0.47 ERA) over his last four outings. That included two starts with Team Dominican Republic and his last two games with the Red Sox.
Coulombe debuts
Newly signed left-hander Danny Coulombe made his Red Sox debut Thursday, coming on in the top of the ninth and allowing one unearned run over 2/3 of an inning.
Coulombe allowed a leadoff single to David Bañuelos, who advanced to second on an error and later came around to score due to another error by Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Coulombe then struck out Alex Jackson, walked Gio Urshela and struck out Rayne Doncon before he was lifted for Tayron Guerrero after throwing 20 pitches.
Guerrero forced a groundout to end the game.
Kahnle deal announced
The Red Sox made it official Thursday, announcing the signing of veteran right-hander Tommy Kahnle on a minor league deal. Kahnle has also been added to the spring training roster as a non-roster invitee and will wear No. 46.
An 11-year MLB veteran, the 36-year-old right-hander has been targeted by the Red Sox as a free agent on numerous occasions and finally joins the club after previously opting for deals with the Dodgers and Yankees. Kahnle is coming off a roller coaster 2025 with the Detroit Tigers, posting a 1.77 ERA through his first 34 appearances before crashing to a 7.90 ERA over his final 32 from the start of July onward.
More roster cuts
The Red Sox made their latest round of roster cuts on Thursday, announcing that infielders Tsung-Che Cheng and Nick Sogard have been optioned to Triple-A and that infielder/outfielders Max Ferguson and Tyler McDonough, infielder Mikey Romero, outfielder Allan Castro and first baseman/catcher Nathan Hickey have been reassigned to minor league camp.
There are now 48 players remaining in Red Sox camp, including nine non-roster invitees.
Up next
Minor league right-hander Blake Wehunt will take the hill for the Red Sox to start Friday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Jovani Moran, Tyler Samaniego, Alec Gamboa and Kyle Keller are all scheduled to pitch for the Red Sox in relief, and Rays ace Shane McClanahan, who has missed the last two seasons due to injury, is expected to start for Tampa Bay.