BOSTON — Red Sox rookie Payton Tolle delivered a commanding performance against the Athletics on Friday, striking out 14 batters in six innings as Boston won 13-1 and stretched its winning streak to nine games.
Tolle, 23, allowed two hits and no walks while throwing just 84 pitches. He struck out the side in three separate innings and retired the first 12 batters he faced.
The 14-strikeout effort is the most by a Red Sox pitcher since Chris Sale fanned 17 on May 14, 2019, and the best by a Boston pitcher 23 or younger since Roger Clemens struck out 20 on April 29, 1986. Tolle also became the youngest pitcher to record 14 strikeouts in a game since Jose Fernandez in 2014.
According to OptaSTATS, Tolle is the only pitcher since 1988 to log 14 or more strikeouts while throwing fewer than 85 pitches.
Interim manager Chad Tracy praised the outing. "It doesn't get much better than that," Tracy said. "He looked really, really good."
Catcher Jake Rogers, making his first start for Boston after being acquired from the Orioles, called the performance "electric." Rogers said Tolle reminded him of Tarik Skubal, whom he caught during Skubal's 2024 Cy Young season in Detroit. "It felt kind of like when me and Skub were on the run in '24," Rogers said.
Tolle topped out at 99.5 mph and threw 14 pitches at 98 mph or higher. His curveball generated 11 strikes and five strikeouts out of 15 thrown.
The sold-out Fenway Park crowd of 37,227 chanted "Tolle, Tolle, Tolle" as he exited. "It's not the end," Tolle said. "Just keep going. Just keep building off each one."
Boston's offense backed him with 13 runs. All nine starters recorded at least one hit and either a run scored or an RBI. Jarren Duran hit a two-run home run during a five-run second inning. Wilyer Abreu drove in three runs, while Caleb Durbin, Masataka Yoshida and Duran each added two RBIs.
The Red Sox have scored 12 or more runs in three of their last four games — the first time since 2016 the team has scored 12 or more in back-to-back games.
Boston stands at 64-51 with 27 wins in its last 30 games, making it the 10th team since 1900 to go 27-3 or better over a 30-game span and the first since Cleveland in 2017.
The Red Sox will pursue their second 10-game winning streak of the season on Saturday — a feat no Boston team has accomplished before. A win would also make them only the second team in the divisional era, since 1969, to post both a 15-game winning streak and a separate 10-game winning streak in the same season, following the 1977 Royals.
Catcher Adley Rutschman, another recent acquisition, begins a rehab assignment Saturday in Worcester.
"The stadium is sold out every single day," Duran said. "We just owe it to the fans just coming and supporting us on this run, so it's been awesome."
