Payton Tolle limits Dodgers to two runs over six

Saturday would be Payton Tolle’s turn, following by Patrick Sandoval on Sunday, but it looks like the Red Sox might be tweaking things. Depending on what they do, they could be aiming to move Tolle ahead of Ranger Suarez as a potential Game 2 starter in their likely Wild Card series.

Tolle didn’t get the victory, as Erik Miller and Garrett Whitlock combined to give the tying run in the seventh before the Red Sox went back ahead. Tolle, though, was the star today. He fanned four in a row to begin the game, and he went on to limit the Royals to four singles and one walk. His ERA is sitting at 3.02 through 25 starts. He’ll face the Rays next time out.

Tolle hardly seems to care that he’s now 40+ innings over his previous high. His velocity was up about one mph from his season averages today, and he reached double figures in strikeouts for the third time this year. He was actually hit really hard when the Orioles made contact against him; all but one of the nine balls in play he gave up was hard hit and the overall average was 100.3 mph. Still, it resulted in only four hits allowed. Tolle is 9-6 with a 3.15 ERA. He’d have a Rookie of the Year case most seasons, but he’s still behind at least Kevin McGonigle and Parker Messick in the AL this year. He’ll likely face the Royals next weekend.

After entering the fifth with a 3-2 lead, Tolle loaded the bases with no outs on a HBP, a walk and a bunt single versus the bottom-third of the lineup. Randy Arozarena then drilled a game-tying single. At that point, Tolle stepped it up, throwing several of his hardest pitches of the game to strike out two and get Cal Raleigh to fly out on a game-high 98.4-mph fastball to end the threat. Afterwards, Tolle clearly should have been told, “great job, hit the showers, kid.” But the Red Sox brought him back out to give up one more run. The one fastball he threw in the sixth checked in at 95.5 mph. It’s the first time in seven starts that Tolle has allowed more than three runs. He remained 8-6 with a 3.23 ERA. He’ll likely face the Orioles on Sunday.

Tolle carried a shutout into the fifth inning at loanDepot park before giving up a bases-loaded sacrifice fly from Brian Navarreto. He also served up a game-tying solo homer to Heriberto Hernández in the ensuing frame. He generated 17 swinging strikes, including 11 on his fastball alone, and finished with seven strikeouts. He’ll face the Mariners on Monday to kick off a two-start week.

Tolle was cruising along, carrying a shutout into the fifth inning, before running into some trouble. He surrendered back-to-back doubles and loaded the bases with two outs in the frame, which led to a two-run double by Gabriel Moreno. He finished with six strikeouts and only handed out a pair of free passes. The 23-year-old rookie southpaw has looked like a legitimate fantasy ace, working into the sixth inning while allowing three earned runs or fewer in five consecutive starts since July 27. He’s also posted a sublime 38/7 K/BB ratio across 30 1/3 innings during that span. He’ll try to keep things rolling with a favorable road matchup against the Marlins on Tuesday.

Tolle settled for four strikeouts and six whiffs on 46 swings today, but that worked out fine. He allowed only two hard-hit balls, both of which turned into groundouts, and he retired the final 17 batters he faced. Tolle is up to 130 innings, which is 12 more than he threw in his pro debut last season, but he’s definitely not showing any signs of slowing down yet; he’s 4-0 with a 2.21 ERA in his last seven starts. He’s slated to face the D-backs next Tuesday.

One of the two hits was a solo homer by Tyler Soderstrom that just skirted over the short right-center fence at Fenway, and that accounted for all the damage done tonight. Tolle’s stuff ticked up a notch or two today, as he touched 99.5 mph and averaged 97.6 on his four-seamer. He achieved whiffs on a stunning 24-of-49 swings by the Athletics. He’ll look to keep it rolling against the Blue Jays in what is currently slated to be a matchup with All-Star Game starter Dylan Cease.

Tolle gave up homers to Tyler Soderstrom and Jonah Heim, but thanks to Ceddanne Rafaela’s slam in the sixth, he won for the sixth time this season to even up his record. He has a 3.32 ERA and a 103/27 K/BB through 95 innings. He’s looking at a showdown with the Dodgers next time out on Saturday.

Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy confirmed that Suarez is finally ready to take the ball after his return from the injured list was delayed by an illness earlier this week. The 30-year-old All-Star southpaw will return to a red-hot Boston squad after missing exactly three weeks with a groin strain. He got off to a bit of a slow start in his Red Sox debut, but finished the first half with a sparkling 3.15 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 97/26 K/BB ratio across 91 1/3 innings. It’ll be rookie Peyton Tolle drawing the starting assignment for Monday’s series opener against the Athletics out in West Sacramento.