Boston Red Sox
Contreras clobbered a game-winning 426-foot homer to left field in the eighth frame.
Payton Tolle pitched the longest game of his career in Saturday’s victory. AP Photo/Brynn Anderson
The Boston Red Sox rallied late to beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2 Saturday night, coming off a brutal 3-2 extra-inning loss the night before.
Things looked troubling early on when Red Sox starting pitcher Payton Tolle allowed a leadoff home run on his second pitch of the game to Braves designated hitter Drake Baldwin. The long ball was the red-hot Baldwin’s second in as many games, as he took Connelly Early deep Friday.
That first-inning homer was the only major flaw of Tolle’s outing. He went a career-high eight strong frames, giving up two earned runs, four hits, one walk, and striking out three and collecting six swing-and-misses. The 23-year-old left-hander threw 85 pitches (60 strikes) of efficient ball, setting himself up to attempt a complete game.
Instead, closer Aroldis Chapman took the ninth to record the save. Interim manager Chad Tracy said he didn’t really consider giving Tolle the final inning, and Tolle said he has full trust in Chapman, so he didn’t mind not going back out to the mound.
Tolle called his start a gratifying experience.
“It was a lot of fun,” he told reporters postgame. “Yeah, it was good. Being able to go out there and let the defense do what they do. … Everybody out there did a great job, so it was a lot of fun.”
Tolle’s terrific outing made him the first Red Sox pitcher 24 years old or younger to throw at least eight innings since Eduardo Rodriguez in 2016 (per J.P. Long).
Tracy lauded Tolle’s performance, highlighting his low pitch count that helped put Boston in a position to win.
“Just awesome,” Tracy said. “To put – the pitch count and the efficiency – to put himself in position to be able to go out there for an eighth inning, he was just so, so good.”
Offensively, the Red Sox tied things up at one run apiece in the fourth inning on a Masataka Yoshida sacrifice fly, but Baldwin recorded a RBI knock in the fifth to retake Atlanta’s lead.
All seemed doomed in the seventh frame when the Red Sox wasted a Ceddanne Rafaela leadoff double by going 1-2-3 to strand him at second base.
But first baseman Willson Contreras saved the day in the eighth, clobbering a 426-foot two-run home run to deep left field on a 1-2 count and two outs to give his team a 3-2 lead. The homer came off Braves starter Bryce Elder’s 100th pitch of the game.
Contreras’s ninth home run of the year was all Boston needed to get back into the win column. He said he was happy to put the team on his back and be the reason they evened up the weekend series.
“It feels great. It feels great to be able to help the team,” Contreras told NESN’s Jahmai Webster on the field after the game. “We know that we are trying to play better baseball, we’re trying to have better at-bats. I’m adjusting again to the four-hole. It’s not easy, but I come here every single day to play baseball, to play for the guys, and tonight we played for each other.”
Tracy called Contreras an incredibly important part of the 2026 Red Sox whose power can put Boston over the edge with one swing at any point in a game.
“Huge. Huge. He’s our guy,” Tracy said of Contreras’s homer. “Like, that guy’s our presence in the middle of the order that can do instant damage, and that changed the dugout in a hurry with that swing.”
Chapman faced a daunting bases-loaded situation with two outs in the ninth, but ultimately recorded the save by taking a comebacker off his cleat. That knocked him to the ground, but he managed to flip the ball to first base in time. Chapman said he is fine.
Saturday’s win marked the Red Sox’ first comeback win trailing after seven innings in 2026. Clutch hits, or many meaningful hits at all, have been hard to come by all season. For Contreras to launch one of his own against the best team in MLB is no small feat for the struggling Sox.
Boston will look to win their fifth series of the season in Sunday’s rubber match. Brayan Bello will face off against Grant Holmes at 1:35 p.m. Eastern Time.
Kaley Brown
Kaley Brown is a sports producer for Boston.com, where she covers the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox.
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