Payton Tolle Sparks New Life into Red Sox Rotation in Debut

BOSTON — This story nearly wrote itself, until it didn’t.

Payton Tolle walked off the mound after five stellar innings in his MLB debut. Andrew Bailey had checked in on him after allowing a single with one out, Boston maintaining a 2-0 lead at the time behind his brilliance and Roman Anthony’s 400-foot blast in the fifth inning. The Sox left him in the game, and another Pirates single followed, then an ovation once Alex Cora pulled him.

But Greg Weissert couldn’t escape the inning. Former Sox outfielder Tommy Pham and Pittsburgh legend Andrew McCutchen ripped back-to-back doubles off Tolle into center field. Tolle’s runners scored on the first to tie the game, and the latter gave the Pirates a decisive 3-2 edge as Cy Young favorite Paul Skenes avoided trouble for most of the night. Pittsburgh won, 4-2, adding an insurance run in the eighth.

Tolle’s night, a no-decision, still marked a massive positive in the Sox’ search for back-end rotation pitching for the final month and beyond. Boston surprisingly waived Walker Buehler, whose spot Tolle filled after a bullpen game earlier in the week. Dustin May moved to Saturday, so Tolle took the mound to loud applause after rain swept through the park earlier in the afternoon. With no delay, he powered four fastballs 97 miles per hour or faster at Pirates leadoff hitter, who struck out on a 98 mph rocket.

“It was a great night for us,” Cora said. “It sucked that we didn’t win, but the overall picture, that was a step forward for the organization. This season, his stuff plays and we’re trying to win as many games as possible, so he’s part of this. I’m just happy that he’s here.”

Tolle struck out four of the first seven Pittsburgh hitters he saw, mostly tossing fastballs with strong control throughout 5.1 innings where he allowed three hits. His eight strikeouts marked the most in a Red Sox debut since Daisuke Matsuzaka fanned 10 in 2007. Two of them came back-to-back in the second inning after he allowed a leadoff walk and double to McCutchen that put two Pirates in scoring position early. He escaped the jam with just 10 pitches to the next three Pittsburgh batters.

The Fenway crowd loudly saluted Tolle for his efforts throughout the game, while he flashed smiles back toward his fielders Nick Sogard and Alex Bregman, who hauled in difficult balls in play. Sogard narrowly avoided a major collision with Roman Anthony to secure his first catch in right field. The Sox took a 1-0 lead when Isiah Kiner-Falefa threw a ground ball away in the fourth, then Anthony took a 3-2, low-and-in fastball at 99 miles-per-hour to deep right field. Tolle struck out two more batters in a 1-2-3 fifth that took only 12 pitches to get through.

“A lot of chills,” Tolle said. “I tried to get out there a little early to take it in, just everything that I could, but it was incredible. I came off the mound after the first and I couldn’t feel my feet. It was the greatest experience of my life and it was the greatest atmosphere in baseball. I was very proud of it and I’ll look back on this day for a long time, thinking about this moment … I thought it was good. I thought we pounded zone, especially early. There were a couple times I got out of my legs a little … I’m just gonna compete every day, every outing … if I’m not competing, I’m dead.”

Tolle’s rapid ascent from 2024 second-round draft pick through Greenville (A+), Portland (AA) and Worcester (AAA) bookended a regular season marked by unfathomable readiness from the Sox’ young stars. While Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer faced more typical rookie challenges, Anthony quickly became one of Boston’s most important hitters while Tolle’s debut stood up with many other starts by Sox pitchers this year. His challenge will come pushing longer in games after averaging 4 2/3 innings per start in Worcester. Cora defended the decision to bring him back for the sixth, saying that’s what they expect from him.

The loss fell on Boston’s relievers, Weissert allowing Tolle’s baserunners to score before giving up another run. Jordan Hicks struggled again in the eighth, lasting only 0.1 innings and yielding an insurance run to Pittsburgh. The Sox hit 3-13 after falling behind in the sixth, and finished 1-7 with runners in scoring position.

“The roar after the third out, I wish everybody could experience that,” Tolle said.

“I was fighting back tears. I’m not gonna lie. It was special.”

• The Red Sox released RHP Walker Buehler on Friday after his removal from the rotation last month. Boston originally planned to move him to the bullpen. He posted a 5.45 ERA in 22 starts and 23 appearances, walking 55 batters and 1.56 WHIP. The Sox signed him to a one-year, $21 million deal last winter: “He was close to getting rolling,” Cora said before the game. “It just so happens that we ran out of time here.”
• Boston selected Sogard from AAA-Worcester for his positional versatility, Cora said. Sogard started at second base and walked in the ninth after recording outs in his first three at-bats. Nathaniel Lowe remained on paternity leave on Friday, while Romy González played first base and racked up three hits against the righty Skenes.
• RHP Justin Slaten made his first appearance since May after allowing no earned runs in three AAA rehab outings. He put three batters on base in the seventh, working around the first by forcing a double play and the second and third by striking out Bryan Reynolds in an important spot with Boston only down one. As Cora anticipated, they didn’t push Slaten multiple innings as they manage him carefully in his return from a right shoulder injury.
• Boston optioned OF Jhostynxon Garcia to AAA-Worcester after he hit 1-7 through his first five MLB games following his call-up last week. He recorded his first career hit with a double on Thursday.