Jedixson Paez delivered five efficient innings of relief, the Boston Red Sox bullpen held firm, and Fenway Park watched its team blank the Chicago Cubs 2-0 on Friday, September 25, 2026. Paez earned the win after allowing just three hits with no walks and five strikeouts across his five frames. Brayan Bello handled the first four innings, keeping Chicago scoreless on four hits and a walk. Boston manufactured two runs against a Cubs pitching staff that otherwise kept them quiet, and that was more than enough.

Brayan Bello Sets the Table With Four Scoreless Innings

Bello worked four innings, allowing four hits and a walk while striking out two. He gave up nothing on the scoreboard, handing the ball to Paez with a clean sheet.

The Cubs were not helpless against Bello. Seiya Suzuki went 2-for-3, Michael Busch went 2-for-4, and Nico Hoerner also went 2-for-4. Chicago's lineup made contact, but none of that contact translated into runs.

Jedixson Paez Locks Down the Win With Five Efficient Innings

The story of this game was Paez. Five innings. Three hits. Zero walks. Zero runs. Five strikeouts. That kind of outing from a reliever taking the ball in the fifth inning is exactly what a pitching staff needs in a close game, and Paez delivered it cleanly.

Paez faced a Cubs lineup that had shown it could make contact all evening — Peterson had kept Boston in check over five innings, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out six — but Paez gave them nothing in the back half of the game. The Cubs collected hits against Bello earlier, but could not string anything together against Paez.

Cubs Bullpen Cracks in the Seventh

David Peterson was sharp through five innings for Chicago, posting six strikeouts and keeping Boston off the board. But the Cubs bullpen could not sustain it.

Javier Assad, who took the loss, gave up one earned run over 2.1 innings. Ryan Rolison followed and allowed one earned run on one hit and a walk in just one-third of an inning. Those two runs — one off Assad, one off Rolison — were all the Red Sox needed.

  • Javier Assad (L): 2.1 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
  • Ryan Rolison: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
  • Gavin Hollowell: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

Red Sox Pitching Dominant Across All Nine Innings

Put the full pitching line together and Boston was outstanding. Bello and Paez combined for nine innings of shutout ball, allowing seven hits total and just one walk between them — Bello's lone walk in four innings, none for Paez. They struck out seven Cubs batters. The Cubs had baserunners — Suzuki, Busch, and Hoerner each had two hits — but they could not string anything together when it counted.

This was a complete pitching performance. Bello stabilized the early innings and Paez finished the job without a stumble.

What's Next for the Red Sox

The Red Sox take their 2-0 win and move forward in the final week of the 2026 regular season. Boston's pitching was the story on Friday night at Fenway Park, and Paez in particular made a strong case for a bigger role as the season winds down.