Back in Boston after spending the weekend home welcoming his new child, Brayan Bello returned to find his team in disarray.

In the few days he was gone Cooper Criswell caught Covid, James Paxton hurt his leg and the whole bullpen had been burnt out trying to cover for them. On top of that, Jarren Duran earned himself a two-game suspension for making a homophobic remark, bringing a storm of controversy into the clubhouse at a time the Red Sox were already at their lowest.

The Red Sox needed a big outing from Bello in the worst way, and after season filled with false starts, the new father came through when it mattered most.

Bello delivered one of his best performances of the season on Monday, allowing one run over six strong innings, and the Red Sox went on to win 5-4 in a 10-inning thriller on a walk-off single by Rob Refsnyder.

Trailing 4-3 entering the bottom of the 10th, Enmanuel Valdez hit a towering RBI double to the deepest part of the ballpark to tie the game, and then Nick Sogard singled to put runners at the corners with no outs. The Red Sox then pinch-hit Mickey Gasper with the game on the line in his MLB debut, and the rookie was able to draw a walk to load the bases with one out.

Two batters later, Refsnyder came through with the game-winner.

The win also snapped Boston’s four-game losing streak and moved the Red Sox to within two games of the Kansas City Royals in the Wild Card standings.

Boston broke the ice in the bottom of the fourth when they loaded the bases and scored on a sacrifice fly by Sogard. Ceddanne Rafaela nearly drove in at least one more, but his scorching liner was snagged by the second baseman, prompting the rookie to fling his bat in disgust.

Texas tied the game on an RBI single by Marcus Semien in the top of the fifth, but in the bottom of the frame the Rangers pitchers completely lost the plot, walking five men and allowing two runs to score.

Things started off innocently enough. Starting pitcher Tyler Mahle walked the leadoff man but struck out the next two. With his pitch count up to 92 and a pocket of lefties coming, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy opened for lefty and recent trade deadline acquisition Andrew Chafin.

The move quickly backfired.

Chafin first intentionally walked Rafael Devers, but after throwing a wild pitch that allowed both runners to advance into scoring position, he intentionally walked Connor Wong as well to load the bases. Then he walked two more, allowing pinch hitters Romy Gonzalez and Danny Jansen to reach while forcing home the go-ahead runs.

After that Bochy had seen enough, and Chafin ultimately threw only four strikes on 16 pitches without recording an out.

Unfortunately the Red Sox couldn’t take advantage of the Rangers’ ineptitude. Nick Sogard struck out with the bases still loaded to end the threat, and after all of that Boston never recorded a hit in the fifth inning.

Bello kept up his end of the bargain from there, shutting down the Rangers for a scoreless sixth to wrap up his day. He finished with one run allowed on four hits and three walks over six innings with five strikeouts, but Boston’s inability to bury the Rangers eventually proved costly.

Zack Kelly walked the leadoff man and recorded two outs in the seventh, including an excellent snag and throw on a chopper in front of the mound. The Red Sox then went to fresh call-up Bailey Horn to face Corey Seager, and the five-time All-Star crushed the first pitch he saw for a game-tying two-run home run.

Seager now has four home runs in four games against the Red Sox this year.

Boston got yet another golden opportunity in the bottom of the eighth but once again couldn’t cash in. David Robertson allowed back-to-back one-out singles to Sogard and Rafaela, drawing All-Star closer Kirby Yates from the bullpen. Yates struck out David Hamilton but walked Masataka Yoshida to load the bases again, but Rob Refsnyder struck out to end the inning.

Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen were able to keep the Rangers at bay in the eighth and ninth innings respectively, but Texas finally came through in the 10th when Josh Smith drove in the extra-innings zombie runner with an RBI groundout. At that point the Red Sox were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and had stranded 12 men on base, but Valdez and Refsnyder finally broke through in the 10th to give the Red Sox one of their biggest wins of the season.