PHOENIX \u2014 Instant reactions as the Red Sox open their trip out west with a dud, falling to the Diamondbacks, 10-5, as Payton Tolle struggles in his second major league start and Justin Slaten implodes late:<\/p>\n
1) <\/b>The early story of this one was Tolle, who entered with high expectations after dazzling in his big league debut a week ago. The jump from Triple-A to the majors is a tremendous one, especially for a pitcher a year out of college who began the season at High-A.<\/p>\n
Tolle\u2019s crash course at Chase Field featured loud contact, a lack of command and a couple of marathon at-bats that drove up his pitch count and put Arizona in a position to pounce. He didn\u2019t have much swing-and-miss and produced an ugly line, allowing five earned runs while allowing five hits, walking four, unleashing a costly wild pitch and allowing two homers on 77 pitches in just three innings.<\/p>\n
An erratic Tolle was greeted by No. 2 hitter Geraldo Perdomo \u2014 who worked a nine-pitch at-bat before smoking a solo homer \u2013 in the first. Jordan Lawlar then doubled and scored when Tolle airmailed a changeup in the second. Things really unraveled in the third, when Tolle issued back-to-back one-out walks, then allowed a laser, three-run homer to Ildemaro Vargas, who left the ballpark with an exit velocity of 111.9 mph.<\/p>\n
2) <\/b>The Sox showed a whole lot of fight in a game that seemed out of reach early. A parade of hits turned a five-run deficit into a one-run game against a scuffling Arizona bullpen in the eighth. It wasn\u2019t close for long, though.<\/p>\n
Boston had the tying run on second (in the form of speedy pinch-runner David Hamilton) and one out but lefty Andrew Saalfrank got Nathaniel Lowe to fly out and struck out Nate Eaton with a man on second. Then, Slaten imploded in his attempt to keep the game close.<\/p>\n
Slaten allowed four hits, including a two-out, three-run blast by Corbin Carroll, as the D-Backs stretched their lead out to five runs again. Taylor Rashi, originally tasked with protecting a one-run lead in the ninth, had plenty of breathing room and set Boston down quickly as Arizona got back to .500.<\/p>\n
3) <\/b>The loss dropped Boston to 4 \u00bd games behind the Blue Jays, who beat the Yankees in the Bronx. New York kept a half-game lead for the top wild card spot. The Red Sox remain 5 \u00bd games clear of the Royals and Rangers, the top teams on the outside looking in.<\/p>\n
4) <\/b>Tolle\u2019s gameplan was similar to his debut against the Pirates, in which he struck out eight. He kept a fastball-dominant approach (53%, compared to 50%) last week while averaging around 96 mph. The difference was a lack of command on the secondary offerings.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear when Tolle will pitch next. Alex Cora doesn\u2019t seem too keen on pitching him on four days rest in Sacramento on Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
5) <\/b>Shortly before Tolle\u2019s poor third inning came a turning point on the bases. Trailing 2-1, the Red Sox had the tying run on second after Alex Bregman\u2019s one-out single. Trevor Story then struck out before Romy Gonzalez shot a single into center. But Carlos Narv\u00e1ez, clearly hobbled by a knee injury he has been battling for weeks, was gunned down at the plate on a great throw from Blaze Alexander that kept the lead for Arizona.<\/p>\n
It was a somewhat aggressive send by third base coach Kyle Hudson with Narv\u00e1ez limited, but one that made sense in the context of Boston\u2019s short-handed lineup.<\/p>\n
6) <\/b>Old friend Eduardo Rodr\u00edguez didn\u2019t look like a pitcher who came in with a 5.30 ERA. He lasted six innings, allowing just the lone run while allowing four hits and two walks. He settled down once given a comfortable lead in the third.<\/p>\n
7) <\/b>Replay aficionado Mike Brenly had a nice moment in front of his dad, Bob, the former Arizona manager who is now a broadcaster for the D-Backs. On a Perdomo single in the second, Ceddanne Rafaela unleashed a throw to third and nabbed Ketel Marte \u2014 on a play overturned by replay showing that Alex Bregman\u2019s great tag got the out.<\/p>\n
8) <\/b>A positive sign for the Red Sox\u2019 offense came in the second, when Lowe won a left-on-left matchup and smoked an RBI triple to right field, nearly missing a homer. Lowe is going to play more against lefties with Roman Anthony and Wilyer Abreu both out, Ceddanne Rafaela needed in the outfield and Romy Gonzalez manning second. Entering Friday, Lowe had a .499 OPS against lefties \u2014 and just nine extra-base hits \u2014 in 162 chances this year.<\/p>\n
9) <\/b>The Red Sox will turn to Lucas Giolito (10-2, 3.38 ERA) in an effort to right the ship Saturday night. He\u2019ll be opposed by right Brandon Pfaadt (12-8, 5.33 ERA). First pitch is at 8:10 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n
Giolito, at 125 \u2153 innings, is closing in on the all-important 140-inning mark that determines his contractual status for 2026.<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Payton Tolle’s second big league start didn’t go as planned Friday night in Arizona as the Red Sox opened their trip out west with a dud.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":88931,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n\n