Red Sox shutout by Blue Jays 3-0 as Payton Tolle can't replicate debut

After an impressive debut against the Yankees, Payton Tolle returned to the mound Tuesday against another division opponent, but couldn’t replicate the same success as Toronto defeated Boston, 3-0.

The loss marked the first under interim manager Chad Tracy and the third time this season the Red Sox have been shut out.

Tolle threw 68 pitches over 4 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on three hits while walking four and striking out four.

“He threw the ball pretty well,” Tracy told reporters postgame. Tracy explained that he and pitching coach Andrew Bailey had discussed a shorter start for the Tolle, since he hadn’t been on a traditional five-day schedule. Including not pitching for 11 days while the Red Sox were deciding when Tolle would make his big league debut this month.

The left-hander’s velocity was down, averaging 95.0 mph on his four-seam fastball (35 pitches, topping out at 96.2 mph), per Baseball Savant. That's compared to 97.1 mph (46 pitches, topping out at 99.5 mph) in his debut against the Yankees.

“The velo was a little down for most of the game anyhow, it started to go a little lower, it looked like he was fatiguing, so went ahead and made the move,” Tracy said.

Tolle worked efficiently, getting through each inning on 16 or fewer pitches, but his pitch mix was unusual, and his velocity was down across all five offerings, including drops of at least 2.2 mph on his four-seam, sinker, and cutter, his three most-used pitches.

“It was down, but instead of just taking it for what it was, I kind of got in my own way about it, started trying too hard on some pitches,” Tolle said of his velocity. "I thought I was trying to make them gross, and like, I just needed to go out there and keep doing what I can with what I got that day. So something to learn from, for sure.”

Toronto got on the board in the third inning. Andrés Giménez led off with a single, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. put both runners in scoring position with a two-out double. Kazuma Okamoto then delivered, ripping a 95.8 mph four-seam fastball from Tolle off the left-field wall for a two-run single. 

The ball left his bat at 105.1 mph, giving the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead.

“It was a grind,” Tolle said. “Just didn’t feel (like) myself, really. Thought I was pressing a little too hard on myself. Even Connelly (Early) came in here and said, ‘Hey, looks like you’re just beating yourself up.’ So definitely feel like I got in my own way today.”

After issuing back-to-back two-out walks to Myles Straw and Ernie Clement, Tracy turned to right-hander Zack Kelly.

The righty allowed