BOSTON — The Red Sox have been searching for a spark 24 games into the season, and on Thursday night, Payton Tolle delivered one of the club’s best pitching performances, second only to Ranger Suárez’s eight scoreless innings against the Tigers earlier in the homestand.
Tolle was electric in his 2026 debut, allowing just one run, a game-tying solo homer to Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the fifth. The left-hander gave up three hits and one walk while striking out a career-high 11, but the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead as Boston fell 4-2.
Boston sinks to 9-16, dropping seven games behind the Yankees (16-9) in the American League East. New York completed the three-game sweep, outscoring the Red Sox 12-3 and holding Boston to just 13 hits over 27 innings. The Sox managed only four hits Tuesday, five on Wednesday, and four in the series finale.
Despite the offensive struggles, Tolle was the story for Boston, looking dominant on the mound after not pitching since April 12. The Red Sox had held the left-hander back due to potential weekend rainouts and the sudden need for a starter following Sonny Gray’s right hamstring injury on Marathon Monday.
Tolle ran into trouble in the fourth after loading the bases with nobody out, but the hard-throwing left-hander settled in. He struck out Giancarlo Stanton on a swinging changeup, got Randal Grichuk to fly out to shallow right, and then froze Trent Grisham with a cutter to escape the jam.
Welcome back to the bigs, Payton Tolle!
MLB’s No. 15 prospect (@RedSox) racks up 18 swings-and-misses and becomes the first rookie to notch 11 K’s in a start this season: pic.twitter.com/aFRNMeyYIL
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 23, 2026
After the strikeout, Tolle let out a roar on the mound, showing his emotion to the Fenway crowd.
“I think about being an energy giver, don’t be an energy vampire,” Tolle said.
Boston struck first in the second inning, capitalizing on a defensive miscue that extended the frame. After a throwing error allowed Trevor Story to reach with two outs, Marcelo Mayer lined an RBI double off the Green Monster the other way, giving the Red Sox their first lead of the series.
Mayer’s double extended his hitting streak to three games, and he has now recorded a hit in 14 of 21 games this season.
New York answered in the fifth when Jazz Chisholm Jr. launched a solo homer that curled around the Pesky Pole, just out of reach of Gold Glove right fielder Wilyer Abreu, tying the game at 1-1.
In the home half of the inning, Carlos Narváez launched his first home run of the season, a solo shot into the Green Monster seats to put Boston back on top, 2-1. It marked the club’s first home run since Sunday, when Willson Contreras went deep against the Tigers.
Narváez now has 16 career home runs, four of which have come against his former team, the Yankees.
Tolle returned for the sixth and finished his outing in style, retiring the side in order while striking out Judge and Stanton.
“I think the off-speed pitches came up big for me in some spots, but also with sinkers and cutters too,” Tolle said. “It helped to have wrinkles.”
The 23-year-old also became the youngest pitcher in MLB to record 11-plus strikeouts while allowing no more than one earned run over six-plus innings against the Yankees since Chris Sale on Aug. 22, 2012, when he was with the White Sox.
He also became the first Red Sox pitcher to open a game with five straight strikeouts against the Yankees since Casey Fossum on Aug. 27, 2002.
“He was really good,” Alex Cora said. “The fastball played early, then he started mixing up his pitches, he was impressive, he was under control, the moment wasn’t too big for him, and he pounded the strike zone, which is the most important thing.”
Tolle threw 93 pitches, 63 for strikes, with his fastball topping out at 99.5 mph. He mixed in 18 sinkers and generated 18 swings and misses, per Baseball Savant.
Once Tolle exited, the Yankees immediately
