BOSTON — Manager Alex Cora said before Brayan Bello’s start Friday that the Red Sox expected him to use his changeup more often.

“He’s still not throwing the 40% changeup usage that we wanted three years ago,” Cora said.

Bello didn’t have his best stuff Friday in a 5-2 loss to the Dodgers at Fenway Park — but he might have made some progress with his changeup.

It has always been considered his best secondary pitch but he’s lacked feel for it this year. Opponents have batted .250 against his changeup compared to just .177 last year.

“I felt very good with the changeup today,” Bello said through translator Carlos Villoria Benítez.

Bello threw 15 changeups and got five swings and misses with it.

“I was able to command it and I also felt like the pitch was working well,” Bello said. “I felt the confidence in that pitch today to throw it at any time and I was able to be successful and effective with it.”

Bello recently said his changeup has played better since he ditched the windup and began working primarily out of the stretch.

He has used it just 14.8% of the time, while his sinker, sweeper, and four-seam fastball all have higher usage rates.

The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Tommy Edman’s two-out RBI single. They went ahead 3-0 in the third inning when Bello walked Teoscar Hernández with the bases loaded and gave up an RBI sac fly to Andy Pages.

Bello pitched 5 ⅓ innings, allowing three runs, six hits and two walks while striking out five. He threw 98 pitches (63 strikes). He escaped a jam in the fifth with runners at the corners and one out. He struck out both Freddie Freeman and Hernández swinging.

“He was OK,” Cora said. “Not efficient. That (third inning) was a long inning.”