Payton

Tolle

Tolle allowed seven hits and two walks in the outing but most importantly kept Baltimore off the scoreboard. He threw a career-high 99 pitches, lowering his ERA to 2.28 for the season. The rookie southpaw continues to impress with a fastball-heavy approach, including his new sinker. He next lines up for a road matchup in Tampa Bay.

The 23-year-old hurler scattered five hits on the night while issuing a pair of free passes. All of the damage done against him came in the fourth inning on a pair of RBI singles by Jorge Mateo and Dominic Smith. He piled up 18 swings and misses on 94 offerings on the night — 11 of those on his fastball — while registering a CSW of 24 percent. He’ll attempt to get back in the win column as he carries a brilliant 2.61 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and a 46/11 K/BB ratio (41 1/3 innings) into Wednesday’s matchup against the Orioles.

After retiring all three batters he faced in the first inning, Tolle allowed five-straight batters to reach base to start the second inning, with Ryan Kriedler and Luke Keaschall driving in runs to cut the Red Sox’s lead to 4-2. After striking out Alex Jackson, Tolle would allow an RBI single to Byron Buxton to give the Twins their third and final run of the frame. Despite the rough start, Tolle would settle in to pitch five straight scoreless innings before being pulled to start the seventh. Tolle’s nine strikeouts are good for his second-highest total in any game this season, and he has now allowed three earned runs or fewer in every outing. His next start is scheduled for Thursday at home against the Braves.

Tolle needed just 85 pitches to get 24 outs tonight, finishing with four hits allowed, one walk and three strikeouts. He gave up a 421-foot homer to Drake Baldwin and had two flyouts that projected as homers in 15 and five ballparks, according to Statcast. Still, it was a pretty impressive showing, especially because he averaged the same 96.5 mph with his fastball in the eighth that he did in the first. Tolle is 2-2 with a 2.05 ERA through five turns, and he’ll be a worthy mixed-league play next week against the Twins.

The 23-year-old southpaw struck out four batters on the day and didn’t allow a free pass. He served up a solo homer to Junior Caminero on an 0-2 pitch in the opening inning then then the Rays scratched out a pair of runs against him in the third inning. Tolle got 12 whiffs on 81 pitches on the day — seven on his fastball — while posting a CSW of 25 percent. He’ll carry a terrific 2.78 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and a 27/6 K/BB ratio (22 2/3 innings) into a tough matchup against the Braves in Atlanta on Sunday.

That’s all Boston has announced so far. Brayan Bello was slated to start Sunday, but since the club has Monday off, it’s possible he could be pushed back further than Tuesday.

The official announcement came just minutes before first pitch at Fenway Park. The two teams ultimately decided not to start up the contest and risk a washout by the middle innings based on the local forecast. It’ll be made up as a doubleheader on July 17. It’s a tough break for Payton Tolle’s fantasy managers as it was setting up as an extremely favorable matchup for Boston’s top pitching prospect. The 23-year-old southpaw will presumably be pushed back to Sunday instead, and could theoretically operate in a tandem role with Brayan Bello. We’ll see. Nick Martinez, today’s scheduled starter, will pitch Sunday for the Rays.

Gray returns to Boston’s rotation to take the ball for Wednesday’s series finale in Detroit following a two-week absence recovering from a hamstring strain. The 36-year-old veteran has compiled a pedestrian 4.30 ERA and 13/5 K/BB ratio over 23 innings this season, but he’s a worthwhile option in all fantasy formats, especially in a favorable road matchup. The big question is whether the Red Sox are going to ship top pitching prospect Payton Tolle, or fellow rookie Jake Bennett, back to the minors with Gray back in the rotation.

Tolle gave up one hit, walked one and struck out eight. He improved to 1-1 with the win. The 23-year-old left-hander dominated the Tigers, who didn’t have a baserunner until Riley Greene’s double in the fifth inning, which was the only hit Tolle allowed. The Tigers didn’t score against Tolle until the sixth inning, when a hit batter, a walk and two errors led to two runs for Detroit. It’s unclear when Tolle might start again for the Red Sox with Sonny Gray (hamstring) returning soon.

Tolle simply didn’t have the same stuff tonight as when he struck out 11 against the Yankees last week. He averaged 97.1 mph with his fastball in that game. Tonight, he was 94.9 mph. He also walked four tonight. It was quite the disappointment, and it would seem to make it quite a bit more likely that Tolle will return to Triple-A once Sonny Gray returns. Still, we’d stick with him for now and see what happens. Brayan Bello still might be the pitcher to go if he fails to bounce back in the series finale Wednesday.