Brayan Bello will make his first career playoff start on Wednesday night, as he looks to eliminate the New York Yankees and send the Boston Red Sox to the American League Divisional Series. The 26-year-old righty won't be fazed by the bright lights of the postseason or the wild crowd at Yankee Stadium.

"Obviously super happy for the opportunity to start the game [Wednesday] here, to be the No. 2 starter," Bello said Tuesday in New York through his translator. "I have been throwing a lot of big games here, but I feel like this one is going to be different."

Bello is fresh off a breakout season where he went 11-9 with a 3.35 ERA as Boston's No. 2 starter behind ace Garrett Crochet. He'll look to match Crochet's Game 1 gem Wednesday night, and he brings a great track record at Yankee Stadium into the potential clincher.

In five career starts in the Bronx, Bello has gone 3-1 with a 1.44 ERA and 0.957 WHIP. He threw seven shutout inning at The Stadium on Aug. 22, when he limited the Yankees to just three hits and struck out five to lift Boston to a 1-0 victory.

Why does he feel so comfortable in such a setting? Bello said he feeds off the pressure and the hostility from the New York crowd.

"I feel like as soon as you put your step on the field, you feel the pressure from the fans, even when you are in the bullpen and when you go to the mound," he explained. "For me, nothing changed preparation-wise, but I feel like that extra pressure from the fans and from everybody it gets me going."

Brayan Bello credits Pedro Martinez for breakout season

Bello used to let pressure get to him, with the littlest hiccup usually leading to a collapse during his first three seasons. But that was not the case in 2025, as Bello rarely let things unravel for him on the mound.

He credits the Boston staff and Red Sox legend Pedro Martinez -- who has been mentoring Bello and put in a lot of work with him throughout 2025 -- for helping him reach this point.

 "First of all, just blessed that I am healthy, that I stay healthy throughout the year. I also feel like the coaching staff, the pitching coach and pitching staff also helped me a lot too this year. And the offseason working with Pedro as well. It is a team effort, and I feel like it's a lot of people that helped me to get to this point," he said. "I am very grateful for that."

Bello doesn't have to channel his inner Pedro on Wednesday night. He simply has to go out and be the Brayan Bello the Red Sox saw throughout the 2025 season. In his three starts against the Yankees, Bello went 2-1 with a 1.89 ERA. New York batters hit just .172 against Bello, as he fanned 17 over his 19 innings of work. 

He'll be opposed by Yankees lefty Carlos Rodon, who went 1-2 with a 5.74 ERA over his 15.2 innings against Boston in the regular season. 

Since the Wild Card round switched to a best-of-three format in 2022, all 12 Game 1 winners have gone on to win the series. Bello will look to keep that going -- along with his dominance at Yankee Stadium -- on Wednesday night.