Boston Red Sox
“I don’t have any other explanation than he’s got big stuff.”
On a night where the Red Sox pounded out 15 hits and eight runs at Fenway Park, Willson Contreras focused his praise elsewhere following Boston’s 8-1 win over Baltimore.
“Tolle was the biggest star tonight,” the veteran first baseman said. “He did a great job.”
Boston’s much-needed offensive surge at home — with every player in the Red Sox lineup collecting a hit — was a welcome sight for a club that finally reached double-digit wins in its own ballpark … in early June.
But as the Red Sox try to cling to any semblance of hope that greater days are ahead, the most encouraging sight — both in the short and long-term — was Payton Tolle’s continued excellence on the mound.
The rookie southpaw was once again in command Wednesday, posting six shutout innings of work. It marked the first scoreless start of his big-league career, and his fifth quality start of the season.
Across eight starts so far this season, Tolle is sporting just a 2.28 ERA.
“He’s been awesome,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said of the young starter. “I’ve said it a bunch about his ability to land off-speed [pitches], and what it does.
“Because the fastball, even when they know it’s coming, gets missed a lot — just with the extension and ride on it. They still fouled off a lot and missed it, but his ability to land off-speed helps. He was fantastic.”
Across a career-high 99 pitches on Wednesday, Tolle scattered seven hits, two walks, and five strikeouts — keeping Baltimore’s bats off balance with several fastball variations.
Of Tolle’s 99 pitches, just four were off-speed offerings (curveballs and changeups) — with 59 of them being four-seam fastballs.
“Sometimes it’s first-pitch fastball, looks like they’re sitting on it, they’ll foul back and miss,” Tracy said of Tolle’s pitch mix. “I think the ability to get that kind of extension, the ball just jumps and keeps carrying. It’s hard to square up. I don’t have any other explanation than he’s got big stuff.”
Tolle relied on that big stuff to escape a few jams — striking out Pete Alonso on an inside cutter to escape a first inning with an O’s baserunner on third before stranding two more runners in the sixth by eliciting a flyout from Jackson Holliday to end his night.
Granted, the top highlight of the evening might have been Tolle’s failed attempt to try and snag a ricocheted ball off the bat of Samuel Basallo before Caleb Durbin corralled it and threw to first for the out.
“Not high enough,” Tolle said with a smile when asked about his vertical jump.
The 23-year-old lefty has had plenty to smile about since first arriving in the big leagues late last season.
The former TCU standout has already graduated from fast-rising, blue-chip prospect into a legitimate difference-maker on a Red Sox club in need of some energy and results amid its ongoing malaise.
Of his 11 career starts with the Red Sox, Tolle has allowed three runs or fewer in 10 of those appearances — and is the first Boston pitcher to open a season with eight or more starts with three or fewer runs allowed since Chris Sale (11 straight starts) accomplished the feat in 2018.
The Red Sox still have a lot of work to do if they have any hope of clawing themselves out of two months of disheartening results.
But in a year with few bright spots to this point, Tolle’s continued play has been a much-needed spark for this club.
“I feel good,” Tolle said. “I think the biggest thing is that we just keep going out, you know? I feel like getting strikes, competing every time. That’s all I can do, is go out there and do what I can and compete my butt off, and look up at the end of the day and hopefully be satisfied. But know that I gave it all out there.
“Maybe I’ll be mad myself, or I’ll be laughing about it. But yeah — just keep competing.”
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