Payton Tolle is getting the ball Thursday afternoon for the Boston Red Sox in the series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays, with first pitch set for 2:07 p.m. ET at Rogers Centre. Boston needs the outing to halt a five-game slide that has left the club searching for a clean response after Wednesday’s 6-4 loss.
The timing matters because the Red Sox entered Thursday at 64-56 and 10 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East. They have scored only 11 runs during the losing streak, so this start is not just another turn through the rotation; it is a chance to stop the bleed before a road series slips farther out of reach.
Tolle has given Boston a reason to believe. He is 7-6 with a 3.20 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP across 19 starts, with 124 strikeouts in 107 innings. In his most recent outing, he struck out a career-high 14 batters and held the Athletics to one run on two hits over six innings in a 13-1 victory. Boston has won each of his last five starts, and across that run he allowed 10 earned runs while striking out 44 batters in 26 2/3 innings.
But Toronto has already found ways to bother him. Tolle has made two starts against the Blue Jays this season and allowed six earned runs over 9 2/3 innings, with six walks and two home runs. That is the part Boston has to solve now: the same pitcher who has steadied the rotation lately has not been as sharp against this opponent, even as the team around him has kept winning.
He will be doing it against a familiar name. Max Scherzer is 42 and has allowed four runs over 14 innings in three appearances since returning from the injured list, a stretch that has produced a 2.57 ERA. Tolle said he was even thinking about sending a ball over for an autograph, and called Scherzer the kind of competitive pitcher others grow up watching. He was 5 years old when Scherzer made his Major League Baseball debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2008. For Boston, the question is whether Tolle can make that admiration wait until after he tries to break the skid.
