{"id":179856,"date":"2026-04-24T10:42:49","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T10:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=179856"},"modified":"2026-04-24T10:42:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T10:42:49","slug":"%f0%9f%9a%a8-a-gem-wasted-red-sox-squander-payton-tolles-masterpiece-in-heartbreaking-series-sweep-by-yankees-%f0%9f%91%87-a-missed-opportunity-one-brilliant-performance-one-devastating-lo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=179856","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udea8 A GEM WASTED: Red Sox Squander Payton Tolle\u2019s Masterpiece in Heartbreaking Series Sweep by Yankees \ud83d\udc47 A Missed Opportunity: One Brilliant Performance, One Devastating Loss \u2014 And Boston\u2019s Heartache Deepens After the Sweep."},"content":{"rendered":"

BOSTON \u2014 With his 93rd pitch of the night, Payton Tolle struck out Giancarlo Stanton for the third straight time. He pumped his fist in triumph as he walked off the mound in the sixth inning, leaving his first big league start of the year with a lead.<\/p>\n

\"Bullpen<\/p>\n

Then the Boston Red Sox let it all unravel. Again.<\/p>\n

The New York Yankees tagged relievers Danny Coulombe and Greg Weissert for three runs in the seventh en route to a 4-2 victory and a gutting series sweep.<\/p>\n

The Red Sox recorded just three runs and 13 hits across the three games.<\/p>\n

It wasted a brilliant 11-strikeout performance from the 23-year-old Tolle, who punched out the first five batters he faced, allowing one run (a solo homer) on three hits and a walk over six innings. He registered 18 swings-and-misses.<\/p>\n

\u201c(He) gave us some energy,\u201d catcher Carlos Narv\u00e1ez said. \u201cWe love it. We need it right now. We need it every single game. Unfortunately, we didn\u2019t get the win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tolle agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you can tell, this locker room wants more than just a good pitching performance,\u201d he said. \u201cHappy to help, but at the end of the day, we want to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Payton Tolle, K\u2019ing the Side in the 1st. pic.twitter.com\/PAuZgGh2k5<\/p>\n

\u2014 Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 23, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The early part of the game gave the illusion that the Red Sox were finally ready to turn a corner. They took their first lead of the series in the second inning when Trevor Story reached on an error and Jarren Duran doubled him in. In the fifth, Narv\u00e1ez clubbed his first homer of the season to make it a 2-1 game against Yankees starter Cam Schlittler, who entered the day with a 1.95 ERA.<\/p>\n

But after building that lead, the Red Sox had just one more hit, regressing to their empty at-bats and quick innings. Schlittler needed 49 pitches to get through the first three innings, but just 32 pitches over the next three.<\/p>\n

After the disastrous top of the seventh when the Red Sox watched the lead slip away, Wilyer Abreu led off with a single, but Story grounded into a double play on the first pitch. Marcelo Mayer followed suit, lining out after one pitch. The inning was over in four pitches.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a secret, we got to be better, I think we\u2019re getting good at-bats, but we haven\u2019t found barrels,\u201d Narv\u00e1ez said.<\/p>\n

Tolle, who debuted in September and appeared in seven games, including three starts, looked like a different pitcher Thursday. The Red Sox promoted him after reshuffling their rotation following Sonny Gray\u2019s injury. Tolle had worked hard all offseason to refine his secondary pitches, particularly his curveball, to enhance his elite four-seamer. He showed improvement in spring training, but ultimately lost out on a rotation spot to Connelly Early.<\/p>\n

But he was downright dominant Thursday against the Yankees, relying heavily on the four-seamer through the first three innings before expertly mixing in his sinker, curveball, cutter and changeup.<\/p>\n

\"Red<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot better, to be honest, compared to last season,\u201d Narv\u00e1ez said. \u201cWe knew that fastball is elite, one of the top fastballs in the game. But actually, the curveball is a true curveball. The changeup has split action going down. He can throw any pitch in any count right now and that\u2019s a big improvement for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tolle hadn\u2019t pitched in 10 days as he was held back from his start for Triple-A Worcester on Sunday \u2014 the Red Sox weren\u2019t sure if they\u2019d need him in Boston with bad weather in the forecast. While he got on the mound a few times in between starts, the prolonged stretch could have meant rust. Instead, he was locked in.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like it had been three months,\u201d Tolle said. \u201cSo it was good to be back out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

He retired the first nine batters he faced before loading the bases in the fourth on a walk and two singles, signaling disaster. But he deftly worked through the Yankees lineup, striking out Stanton with his first changeup of the night, getting Randal Grichuk to fly out and then catching Trent Grisham looking on a cutter.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was impressive,\u201d manager Alex Cora said. \u201cHe was under control. The moment wasn\u2019t too big for him. Pounded the strike zone, which is the most important thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jazz Chisholm Jr.\u2019s solo homer just inside Pesky\u2019s Pole in the fifth was the lone blemish on his line.<\/p>\n

At 23, Tolle became the youngest Red Sox pitcher to strike out as many as 11 Yankees batters since Red Ruffing in 1927 (a game in which Ruffing pitched 15 innings, allowing eight runs and 11 walks, but recorded 12 strikeouts).<\/p>\n

But the lineup\u2019s inability to add on to its early runs cost Tolle. So did a leaky bullpen. Coulombe had a 1.80 ERA through his first eight appearances, but after allowing a run in Monday\u2019s loss to the Detroit Tigers, he struggled again Thursday. He loaded the bases with one out before getting a strikeout and turning the ball over to Weissert. Pinch hitter Cody Bellinger hit a two-run single to left, wiping out the Red Sox\u2019s lead. Aaron Judge tacked on another run.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been saying \u2018I know it\u2019s early,\u2019 but we cannot have that mentality,\u201d Narv\u00e1ez said. \u201cIt\u2019s time to go. We got to flush it. Of course, it doesn\u2019t feel right, but we got to flush it. We got six important games on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lineup was without outfielder Roman Anthony for the second straight day as he deals with upper back soreness. Anthony felt a spasm after a line drive in Tuesday\u2019s series opener against the Yankees and sat out Wednesday. He\u2019s optimistic that it\u2019s nothing major and said it\u2019s not the same injury as the low back tightness he had last August before the more severe oblique injury in September.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been taking care of it in the training room and I\u2019m doing everything I can to kind of get back out there,\u201d Anthony said. \u201cJust a weird thing to happen on a swing, but I\u2019m not too worried about it \u2026 Right now, I\u2019m in a good spot and I\u2019ll be ready to play in the next couple of days.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the Red Sox head on the road for six games against the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays, Cora was asked if it would be good to get away after a tough homestand.<\/p>\n

\"Red<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re about to see,\u201d he said. \u201cWe like it at home. We like playing at Fenway, we like sleeping in our beds. I know it was a tough one, two tough teams. They pitched a lot better than us and got clutch hits and we got swept, that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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