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2026 MLB Thread

geezer

geezer

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ShreveFrog said:
Another great outing for Tolle.
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Here's what the Boston Globe had to say about Tolle:

Payton Tolle does it again, this time outdueling Jays’ Max Scherzer to get Red Sox back on track

TORONTO — Payton Tolle’s future children and grandchildren are going to hear about the time he beat Hall of Famer Max Scherzer on a sunny Thursday at Rogers Centre when he was still a rookie.

“Oh, yeah,” the big galoot said after his eight-inning masterpiece. “Plenty.”

It’ll be a good story, too. On a day the Red Sox were desperate to snap a five-game losing streak and rest their battered bullpen, Tolle pitched his best game of the season in a 7-0 victory and retired the final 17 batters he faced.

Scherzer allowed only one run over five innings but was denied his 223rd regular-season victory. He had to settle for joining Justin Verlander as the only active pitchers with at least 3,000 innings.

At 23, those are milestones Tolle can only dream of. But Thursday offered a tantalizing glimpse of what he’s capable of achieving.

The lefthander struck out 14 over six innings to beat the Athletics at Fenway Park last Friday. This time around, he struck out only four against the Blue Jays, but recorded nine outs on ground balls and seven on infield popups.

“Different way this time but just as effective,” Sox catcher Connor Wong said. “Sailing along nicely, which was really cool to see.”

Only four of the balls Toronto put in play had exit velocities higher than 92 m.p.h., and all were outs.

“A lot of early-count swings, a lot of weak contact,” interim manager Chad Tracy said. “Had the fastball in on the hands quite a bit. We needed a deep start, and we got a great deep start. He gave us the win, and he was awesome.”

Tolle averaged a healthy 95.9 m.p.h. with his four-seam fastball but liberally used his sinker, cutter, and curveball along with a few changeups. The Blue Jays swung and missed only six times against him but were held to two singles.

In Tolle’s view, it was less artistry and more opportunity.

“You go throughout a game, and you take what they give you,” he said. “They’re an aggressive team; they’re going to put the ball in play.”

Tolle stayed in for the eighth inning and got three more outs, but Tracy went to Greg Weissert for the ninth. The Sox don’t have another day off until next Thursday, so Tolle’s first career shutout will have to wait. It was better that he get that inning off with a big lead.

“He had done his job, and that was plenty,” Tracy said.

The Red Sox are undefeated in Tolle’s last seven starts. He’s 4-0 with a 2.21 ERA in those games, 8-6 with a 2.97 on the season in 20 starts.

Connelly Early, Anthony Eyanson, and Kyson Witherspoon have all been traded since July 25, depleting the Sox’ young starter depth in the cause of strengthening other parts of the roster. Tolle’s emergence as a potential ace made that risk more palatable.

Thursday was a great example of why the Sox will build around Tolle. Only Sonny Gray has given the Sox more innings and a lower ERA among the starters this season.

“Tolle going head-to-head with Scherzer and winning the game was great to see,” Wong said. “For me, it’s fun. He has a good time out there on the mound, and he’s got really good stuff. It’s a good time catching him. We needed what he gave us today, every bit of it.”

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/08...d=730658448&s_campaign=108stitches:newsletter
 

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