It took all of 15 games for Rafael Devers to become the Yankee killer that Red Sox Nation fell in love with. Everyone remembers his game-tying home run in the Bronx off of then-Yankee closer Aroldis Chapman's 103 MPH pitch. From then on, it was signature moment after signature moment for Devers, who had 31 homers against the Bronx Bombers in a Red Sox uniform.
Now that he's gone, Red Sox fans have been scouring the team for the next Yankee killer to fill Devers' shoes. While they were hoping for a bat to replace Raffy (and Nathaniel Lowe did a solid job pinch-hitting in that role during the four-game set with six hits and five RBI), it seems like a pitcher has stepped into that role.
Brayan Bello took the bump in game two of the four-game series in the Bronx and looked like the ace the Sox have hoped he'd become. The righty went seven shutout innings innings, allowing just three hits and one walk with five strikeouts. It was a gem from the 26-year-old who lowered his season ERA to 3.07 and crossed the 100 strikeout threshold for the third straight season while also helping the Red Sox clinch the season series against New York (and the tie-breaker should it matter at the end of the season).
It wasn't the first time Bello had blanked the Yankees this season. Back on June 15, he threw seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits, three walks, and striking out eight. According to J.P. Long (@SoxNotes on X), the righty is the first Red Sox since Luis Tiant in 1974 to make multiple seven-plus inning scoreless starts against the Yankees in a single season.
Red Sox starter Brayan Bello's dominance of the Yankees goes further back than just 2025
Lowest ERA against the Yankees this century (min. 50 IP):
— J.P. Long (@SoxNotes) August 23, 2025
1. Brayan Bello 1.95
2. Ryan Yarbrough 2.04
3. Chris Bassitt 2.26
Bello has now made 10 career starts against Boston's archrival. In 60 innings, he has an ERA of 1.95, walking just 20 batters while striking out 49. He has a WHIP of 1.10 and has only allowed two home runs to them.
Fans may have forgotten it, but the dominance started in his first career start against them back in 2022 when he threw five scoreless innings in Fenway. He followed that up just 11 days later with six innings of one-run ball in the Bronx. It was all overshadowed by a poor 2022 for the Sox, and the fact that the team would go on to lose both of those games (Boston was 2-11 in Bello starts in 2022).
Bello is coming into his own in 2025. His ERA is by far the lowest of his career; he has lowered his walks and hits per nine, and following a rough stretch in May, he is consistently pitching into and through the fifth inning. While Devers overshadowed it, Bello has always been a Yankee killer, and with Devers gone, everybody is seeing it. And lucky for Red Sox Nation, Bello is under contract for a while.