It took three hours and 14 minutes but the Red Sox emerged victorious over the visiting Seattle Mariners 8-3 on Tuesday night. Brayan Bello didn’t exactly dominate in his season debut, but backed by an effective Red Sox defense, he made it through five innings with only one run on the board. It was the team’s seventh consecutive start of at least five innings and no more than two runs allowed. The Red Sox right-hander went five innings and allowed one earned run on four hits, making Tuesday the best season debut of his career. He issued three walks, hit two batters, and struck out three. Postgame, manager Alex Cora explained that the injury delay during Bello’s outing was due to cramping in his calf, but said, “right now, feels like there’s nothing serious there.” “He did a good job,” Cora said of his starter. “Triston made a great play in the first inning, and (Bello) actually finished the play. We turned that double play, kind of like he was able to breathe.” The Mariners loaded the bases in the first, and had Rowdy Tellez, who’s homered 14 times against the Red Sox in his career, at the plate. Triston Casas ignited a double play, which Bello completed to end the inning. “It has to be hard, right? Being on the IL, you come back, and that’s a pretty good baseball team over there,” Cora empathized. “Polanco hits one out right away, and a lot of things going on. He got the ground ball against Rowdy, who’s been a killer for us, right? And then he made pitches. The changeup was good, the slider was better. I believe, from where I was, he was able to use the four-seamer to keep him honest. And for his first one, that was solid for us.” Save for the fourth, Bello had at least one baserunner in every inning, but the Mariners couldn’t make anything happen; they went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base during his outing. The game dragged through the early innings as the Red Sox and Mariners offenses played tug-of-war. Jorge Polanco homered for a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, and Jarren Duran tripled and scored the tying run on a Rafael Devers’ sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning. Seattle went 1-2-3 atop the fourth, Boston followed suit in their half of the frame. After the Red Sox put up two runs in the bottom of the fifth, the Mariners plated a pair in the top of the sixth. The Red Sox collected 11 hits – including multi-hit performances by Duran, Alex Bregman, Wilyer Abreu, and Ceddanne Rafaela – and seven walks. Abreu led the way with three hits, a walk, run, and stolen base, Rafaela swiped two bags and scored twice, and Bregman doubled twice and drove in three RBI. Yet at times, it was a frustrating night on the bases for Boston. The Sox struck out nine times and went 4 for 17 with runners in scoring position, leaving 10 men on base. The ‘Slammin’ Famine’ persists as well. The Red Sox, who are without a grand slam since Aug. 19, 2023, loaded the bases against old friend Eduard Bazardo (‘21-22 Red Sox) in the sixth, but Bregman flew out to left to end the inning. It was their 24th grand-slam opportunity of the season; in the American League, only the Mariners and Astros have had more. The Red Sox made up for their slam-less sixth by scoring four in the seventh. Triston Casas blasted a Trent Thornton curveball 105.6 mph to deep center for a three-run homer, and Duran’s single turned into a chaotic run-scoring opportunity when Mariners second baseman Leo Rivas made a throwing error, allowing Carlos Narvaez to score and Duran to advance to second. “That was a good swing,” Cora said of Casas’ blast. “Hopefully this is the beginning of something good.” “We need him,” the manager continued. “We need him to hit the ball hard, and that’s the most important thing. We know he can control the strike zone, the walk before, right? That was a good sign, but we need him to hit the ball hard.” “It’s not pitch selection, because he’s disciplined. He’s not walking as much, it feels like he’s not hitting the ball as hard as he can,” Cora explained. “We like him to get on base, but we like him to drive the ball, and that was an outstanding swing.” Hours after the Red Sox optioned Zack Kelly to Triple-A to open a roster spot for Bello, Justin Wilson turned in a similar outing to the one that put Kelly on the chopping block. Taking the mound in the sixth, he issued back-to-back one-out walks, and after getting the second out, gave up a two-run single to No. 9 hitter JP Crawford to cut Boston’s lead to one. Garrett Whitlock and Liam Hendriks pitched the final three frames. The latter, in his second appearance since June 9, 2023, closed out the contest with a triumphant 1-2-3 ninth. The Red Sox are 13-7 in April – tied with the Detroit Tigers for the best record in the AL – and have won six of their last seven games. Other takeaways Devers’ new nickname should be ‘The Walkman.’ The Red Sox designated hitter entered the contest leading the American League in walks, then added two to his season total. It’s the 60th time in franchise history that a Red Sox player has begun the season with at least 20 walks in his first 25 games; with the exception of ‘21 trade deadline addition Kyle Schwarber, Devers is the first Sox player to do so since Kevin Youkilis in 2011.