BOSTON — A win — an actual honest-to-goodness victory — is apparently too much to ask from the Red Sox these days, who’ve now dropped three straight, five of their last six and 16 of their first 25.
Until that changes, the best fans can hope for is something/someone interesting.
Enter, Payton Tolle .
Tolle didn’t put the brakes on a losing streak or help the Red Sox avoid a sweep at the hands of the Yankees Thursday night. In that sense, New York’s 4-2 victory had an air of inevitability about it.
But in a season that has gone off the rails in the first month, Tolle’s start, his first of the year, was both worthwhile and entertaining.
“He was really good,” gushed Alex Cora. “The fastball played early, then he started mixing up his pitches. He was impressive, he was under control. And he pounded the strike zone, which is the most important thing. Great outing, great outing. The delivery was really clean and the stuff was really good against a good-hitting team. Very impressive.”
Stepping into an injury-depleted starting rotation , Tolle made an immediate imprint. He struck out the side in the first, and if that didn’t grab everyone’s attention, he returned for the second and struck out the first two hitters he saw there, too, running his total to five. He was perfect through three innings, with six of the first nine outs coming by strikeout.
In the fourth, with the Red Sox clinging to a 1-0 lead, Tolle got himself into a major jam, filling the bases with no outs on two singles wrapped around a walk. Then he went to work, getting Giancarlo Stanton swinging, retiring Randal Grichuk on a flyout to shallow right and before escaping by getting Trent Grisham looking.
Exiting the mound, Tolle let out a mighty roar and unleashed an energetic fist pump.
“Last year, when he showed emotion, it kind of worked against him,” said Cora. “Seems like (now) when he shows emotion, he apologizes and then he goes inside and he resets.”
The Fenway crowd, the first sell-out of the series, ate up the lively display and returned it in kind.
“Great environment,” said Tolle. “First time starting in the rivalry, so it was a fun night. I think in my debut (late last season against Pittsburgh), I was giving a fist pump after every inning. Today, obviously, bases loaded, no outs, you get fired up for that. But also, moving forward, I had that adrenaline high and then what happened the next inning?”
What happened the next inning was Jazz Chisholm wrapping a fly ball just around the Pesky Pole in right for a solo homer. It would be the only run Tolle allowed over six innings. Given how inept the Red Sox offense has been — three runs in three games in this series; only twice in the last nine games did they score more than two runs — there was little hope that the lineup could score enough to make Tolle’s night a full-on success.
Still, while he was on the mound, the Sox could feed off the young lefty’s energy.
“I tried to keep my composure a little more,” he said, “but also, at some point, fire the boys up. I think about being an energy-giver; don’t be an energy vampire. There’s definitely some of that.”
Temperament aside, it was easy to see that Tolle has evolved since the end of last season. Cora called him a more “complete” pitcher thanks to the development and refinement of some secondary pitches.
“I was joking with (someone) that I actually pitched today instead of just threw,” said Tolle. “I think the off-speed pitches, they came up big for me in spots.”
Not even a 10-day layoff had much impact. Tolle had been throwing lightly on the side frequently since last weekend, staying ready until he was told when — and where — he would pitch next.
None of it mattered at the end. The Red Sox still didn’t hit and this time, the bullpen couldn’t protect a one-run lead as Danny Coulombe and Greg Weissert combined to yield three runs in the fateful seventh.
“This locker room wants more than just a good pitching performance,” said Tolle. “Happy to help, but at the end of the day, we want to win, so....”
Tolle’s voice trailed off, but the message was clear: what was arguably the best start turned in by any Red Sox starter this season somehow wasn’t good enough.
But it sure was fun, And that’s a start.
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