RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesPayton Tolle Delivers Electric Statement As Red Sox Win Ninth Straight originally appeared on NESN .
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Payton Tolle did not need much help from the Boston Red Sox offense Friday night.
He received plenty of it anyway. Tolle struck out a career-high 14 batters over six dominant innings as the Red Sox crushed the Athletics 13-1 at Fenway Park. The 23-year-old allowed only two hits and one run without issuing a walk.
Boston described the performance with two fitting words on social media.
“Just electric.”
Tolle threw 61 of his 84 pitches for strikes and generated an astonishing 24 swinging strikes. He faced 20 batters and struck out 70% of them.
The victory improved Tolle’s record to 7-6 and lowered his ERA to 3.20. More importantly, it extended Boston’s winning streak to nine games.
Payton Tolle Overwhelms Athletics
The Athletics had no answer for Tolle from the opening pitch. He retired the first 12 batters he faced, striking out nine of them. Tyler Soderstrom ended the perfect-game bid by hitting a solo home run to begin the fifth inning, but Tolle never allowed the mistake to become anything more.
Just electric. pic.twitter.com/0eyjFMMTEG
— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 8, 2026 Max Muncy recorded Oakland’s only other hit against the left-hander. Tolle struck out at least two batters in each of his six innings. He finished the second, third and sixth by striking out the side.
The Athletics rarely put the ball in play. Tolle recorded only four outs on batted balls, and the official scoring breakdown credited him with just two groundouts and two flyouts.
Everything else was a strikeout.
His combination of command and swing-and-miss stuff made the performance especially encouraging. Tolle did not sacrifice control while chasing strikeouts, finishing without a walk for the first time since June. The 14 strikeouts shattered his previous career high of nine, set against the Baltimore Orioles on July 20.
Red Sox Offense Removes Any Suspense
Boston’s hitters made sure Tolle could attack without worrying about the score. Jarren Duran opened the scoring with a two-run home run in the second inning. Jake Rogers and Wilyer Abreu added RBI doubles later in the frame to give the Red Sox a 5-0 advantage. Boston scored four more runs in the fourth inning and added two in both the sixth and seventh.
Abreu finished 2-for-2 with a double, a walk and three RBIs. Duran drove in two runs with his 16th home run of the season, while Caleb Durbin and Masataka Yoshida also recorded two RBIs apiece.
The Red Sox finished with 15 hits and went 7-for-12 with runners in scoring position despite playing without All-Star first baseman Willson Contreras for a second consecutive game.
Raymond Burgos replaced Tolle to begin the seventh inning and completed the victory with three perfect frames. Burgos struck out two while recording his first save.
Tolle and Burgos combined to allow two hits and no walks while striking out 16.
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Tolle Continues Impressive First Full Season
Tolle now has 124 strikeouts over 107 innings this season. His ability to miss bats has been apparent throughout the year, but Friday represented a different level of dominance. He had recorded seven strikeouts in each of his previous two starts against the Athletics and Los Angeles Dodgers. Tolle doubled that total Friday while needing fewer than 90 pitches to complete six innings.
The performance also continued a strong run for Boston’s pitching staff.
The Red Sox shut out the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday before surviving a 13-inning marathon Thursday. Tolle immediately provided six innings Friday, allowing the bullpen to recover from the previous night’s heavy workload. Boston improved to 64-51 and moved into a tie with the New York Yankees in the AL East standings. The Red Sox remain 4.5 games behind the division-leading Tampa Bay Rays.
The Athletics entered Friday with the worst record in the American League, but Tolle did exactly what a playoff contender needed him to do against a struggling opponent. He took control immediately, generated almost no stressful innings and gave Boston another reason to believe its remarkable run can continue.
The Red Sox offense supplied 13 runs.
Tolle only needed one.
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