Red Sox eager to build momentum in finale vs. Cards

Brayan Bello will take the mound on Sunday afternoon against the St. Louis Cardinals as the Boston Red Sox try to win their second consecutive series and first one on the road this season.

Bello (0-1, 9.00 ERA) is 0-1 with a 9.64 ERA in one career start against St. Louis.

He'll oppose fellow right-hander Andre Pallante (1-0, 1.80), who is 1-1 with a 2.84 ERA in four career appearances (two starts) vs. Boston.

The Red Sox have won three of their last four games following a dismal 2-8 start, including a 7-1 victory over the Cardinals on Saturday.

Free-agent signing Ranger Suarez picked up his first win since inking a five-year, $130 million contract in January, giving up three hits while striking out six over six shutout innings. He retired 14 of the last 15 batters that he faced.

"He can pitch, man," Boston manager Alex Cora said. "It started with the mechanics. He was more on balance, more grounded, and he was able to execute."

Willson Contreras, traded by the Cardinals to Boston in December, led a 10-hit attack for the Red Sox with two hits, including a two-run double in the fourth to open the scoring. He drove in three runs.

Contreras was greeted warmly when introduced to the crowd at Busch Stadium.

"I'm going to be honest, this is the first time I got emotional after the (World Baseball Classic)," said Contreras, who along with Suarez helped lead Venezuela to the gold medal.

"I wasn't expecting that good ovation. That melts my heart. I have real good memories here and really good friends on the other side. ... I'm always going to be grateful to them, but I'm glad that we won tonight, and we get to see them again."

St. Louis, which had a three-game winning streak snapped Saturday, got another home run from Jordan Walker, in the eighth inning for the team's' lone run. Walker drilled a 429-foot shot over the wall in center field off reliever Garrett Whitlock.

The 6-foot-6 Walker, a first-round pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, is tied for the major league lead in home runs with Houston's Yordan Alvarez and Baltimore's Gunnar Henderson, with six in 51 at-bats. That matches Walker's total for the 2025 season, when he hit six in 363 at-bats.

Walker's hot start, which includes home runs in five of his last seven games, came following a spring training that saw him struggle, batting just .205 with one homer and three RBIs in 14 games. He credits a more simplistic approach at the plate for the turnaround.

"I'm just trying to keep it simple, man," said Walker, 23. "I can't think too much about mechanics in the box and just go up there and swing it, and what happens, happens. I've taken that mentality."

So far, so good.

"It's never going to be easy, but the confidence is always there," Walker said. "I always believed that I could do it, and now, having seen the results, I just want to keep it going."

--Field Level Media