BOSTON — The Brayan Bello dilemma for the Boston Red Sox has reached a critical mass.On Thursday, in his third attempt to regain momentum as a starting pitcher, Bello failed miserably. The Baltimore Orioles scored six runs in the first inning en route to an 8-2 win at Fenway Park.Interim manager Chad Tracy had few answers for Bello’s struggles, repeating the phrase, “I don’t know,” several times when asked various questions about Bello’s brutal season. The 26-year-old now has a 10.34 ERA in eight starts this season, with a 16.88 ERA in the first inning.Could Bello benefit from time in Triple-A Worcester?“I don’t know,” Tracy said again. “We’ll talk more about that. There’s topics there that I want to discuss with everybody inside and be on the same page with all that kind of stuff.”It wasn’t a hard no.The Red Sox first moved Bello to a bulk relief role on May 5 to try to help him regain form on the mound after starting the year with a 9.12 ERA. Over back-to-back bulk outings, he pitched 13 1/3 innings while allowing just two earned runs. But when they gave him another shot at the rotation against Atlanta on May 17, he floundered again, allowing seven runs in five innings.A third bulk outing last week against Minnesota resulted in another solid turn, in which he threw five scoreless innings. The Red Sox tried for a third time to insert Bello as a starter on Thursday to no avail.In a painful-to-watch first, the Orioles bulldozed Bello, sending 12 batters to the plate. He allowed six runs on six hits, three walks and a hit batter. He might have escaped with only a 2-0 deficit if not for a potential inning-ending tag at third base. After an RBI single to right from Leody Taveras with two outs, Wilyer Abreu threw to third baseman Caleb Durbin in an attempt to get Samuel Basallo advancing. Durbin might have gotten the tag in, but the Red Sox took an extra beat to review the play and Tracy was too late in making the challenge call as the umpires denied him the review. The Orioles went on to score four more runs.Still, it didn’t mask Bello’s ineffectiveness. While he rebounded in the second through fourth innings, the Orioles added two more runs to his line. He finished the day allowing eight runs in five innings.Bello has a 0.70 ERA in three bulk relief outings, but the problem with that setup has been that each opener the Red Sox used got pummeled in the first inning — Danny Coulombe twice and Tyler Samaniego once.“It just feels like for us to be successful, we need Bello to start,” Tracy said before the game on why Bello started Thursday. “We’ve beat a dead horse with this.”Yet it may be time to send Bello to Worcester to work on honing his execution away from the pressures of the majors. Meanwhile, left-hander Jake Bennett, who made two starts for the Red Sox earlier this season, has pitched well in Worcester with a 1.60 ERA in nine starts.Asked about the possibility of a full-time bullpen role or an option to Triple-A, Bello grew angry.“First of all, just stop talking about bullpen and starting games,” Bello said through team interpreter Carlos Villoria-Benetiz. “I’ve always been a starter, and when I’ve been successful as a starter, no one asks your question (about) whether I have to be in the bullpen or starting games.“So, just starting from there, just stop that talk, because I’m just having a bad season. That’s it. That’s it,” he continued. “It’s not whether I’m a starter or I’m a reliever. It’s just, having a bad season. I know that I can turn it around.”Bello signed a six-year, $55 million extension in 2024 that runs through 2029 with a 2030 player option. He admitted it’s not his decision whether the team sends him to Worcester, but he naturally wants to work out his issues with the big-league club. He may not have that luxury much longer.“I’m not thinking about that,” he said of a possible demotion. “I’m thinking about making my adjustments in the big leagues. I have a big-league contract. That doesn’t mean that the bosses will make a decision or not take that into consideration, but I’m a big leaguer. I’m a big-league starting pitcher, and I’ll make my adjustments here.”Tommy Kahnle joins Red Sox as Tyler Samaniego heads back to WorcesterThe Red Sox signed Tommy Kahnle to a minor-league deal to start the season, but the 36-year-old reliever held a June 1 opt-out, meaning he needed to be added to the roster within a three-day window or he’d become a free agent.The Red Sox added the right-hander to the roster on Thursday and optioned Samaniego to Worcester while moving Trevor Story to the 60-day injured list as he recovers from sports hernia surgery.Last season, Kahnle struggled with the Detroit Tigers, posting a 4.43 ERA in 66 appearances. He accepted Boston’s minor-league assignment to work on his pitches.In 18 appearances for Worcester, Kahnle posted a 1.40 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings. He refined his signature changeup while also working on his fastball and slider.“I felt like the last couple weeks, the changeup has been really on, and it’s just the fastball velo has been a little bit up too, probably to do with the weather,” he said. “But, overall, I feel like I was starting to pitch really well.”On Thursday, he pitched the final two innings against the Orioles, allowing two hits and two walks, striking out one.Tommy Kahnle pitched two scoreless innings in his Red Sox debut. (Eric Canha / Imagn Images)Kahnle had been home in Albany, N.Y., the past few days after his opt-out, awaiting the Red Sox’s decision. He arrived in Boston late Wednesday night.“It’s been a while since I’ve been in a big-league stadium again,” he said. “So it was nice to get back out there.”The Red Sox had pursued Kahnle several times in previous offseasons. Now he finally gets his chance to pitch for the club — on the eve of the team visiting the New York Yankees. Kahnle pitched for the Yankees from 2017-20 and again from 2023-24.“I had a feeling, I looked at the schedule, and I go, ‘Oh, course,'” he said. “But, it’s going to be the same thing. This time, I’ll be on the opposite side of this rivalry. So I’m pretty excited to see that.”Chad Epperson confusion sorted outOn Wednesday, the Orioles took issue with a play in the first inning. When Willson Contreras hit a ball into the left-field corner with Wilyer Abreu on first, third-base coach Chad Epperson ran onto the field in front of the third-base bag to see the ball. He waved Abreu around third, but Abreu was thrown out at home after a review.The Orioles complained that Epperson should have been ejected because he’d left the coach’s box, but Tracy said they reviewed the ruling and knew they were in the clear.“In the middle of the game, just because we knew what was said, we checked,” Tracy said of the ruling. “We had a pretty good idea we were right. Checked the rule. If you do that and you’re out of the way, you don’t interfere with play in any way, that’s (OK).”While it was unusual to see the coach on the field, Tracy said he’s seen it before, especially with balls in the left-field corner.“You can’t see that ball,” he said. “I remember the first time I set foot at JetBlue my first year here, and I was coaching third in an intrasquad game and a ball went down there (by the left-field corner), and I was like, ‘I can’t see the ball.’ So if it stays and hugs in there, you cannot see it. You have to get yourself like basically in fair territory just to get a look at where it’s at.”Since joining the club in late April as part of the new coaching staff, Epperson, who’d previously been manager at Double-A Portland, has been aggressive in sending runners home with several getting thrown out.Tracy said he has no issue with Epperson’s aggressiveness.“I’m comfortable with being aggressive to score runs for sure,” Tracy said. “There are certainly situations that we work through and talk with Epp too, of there are certain spots where they may put their infield in or how many outs are there, if there’s a contact hitter that he may get a hit with the infield in, like we got to be aware of that too.“But I’m generally on the side of being aggressive, knowing we’ve had some guys thrown out,” he said. “There’s been some really quality throws. But also had in the last two days, at least two or three throws came in that were off-line by a ways and the ball kicks away and we score. So like, there’s been a run (of throwouts), and it happens sometimes.”It’s a fine line for an offense that’s too often been desperate for runs.