Don’t look now, but the Red Sox have taken the first two games of their four-game series against the Yankees, and they’ve done it at Fenway Park, where wins have been hard to come by this season.
Boston leaned on another dominant outing from rookie left-hander Payton Tolle, who continues to have New York’s lineup searching for answers.
Tolle retired the first 16 batters he faced, carrying a perfect game into the sixth inning before Spencer Jones lined a single to left field to spoil the bid.
The rookie was outstanding in Boston’s 6-1 victory, allowing just one hit over seven scoreless innings while walking two and striking out seven. It marked another impressive performance against the Yankees after Tolle struck out 11 over six innings in his major league debut against New York earlier this season.
Tolle etched his name into the Red Sox record books with another dominant performance.
The 23-year-old became the first Boston pitcher to throw at least seven scoreless innings while allowing one hit or fewer since Ranger Suarez tossed eight scoreless on April 27. He also became the youngest Red Sox pitcher to accomplish the feat since Eduardo Rodríguez on Sept. 16, 2016.
From the opening pitch, Tolle was in complete control.
He needed just nine pitches to retire the Yankees in order in the first inning, then came within one pitch of an immaculate inning in the second. Tolle struck out Jasson Domínguez, José Caballero and Jazz Chisholm Jr. on just 10 pitches, falling one strike shy of the rare feat.
Tolle retired the side on 10 pitches in the third, worked around the heart of the Yankees’ lineup in a 17-pitch fourth, and breezed through a five-pitch fifth inning. Through five perfect frames, he had retired all 15 batters he faced on only 51 pitches.
The rookie generated 11 swings and misses, according to Baseball Savant, with his entire arsenal working. He produced four whiffs with his four-seam fastball, four with his cutter and three more with his curveball, keeping New York’s hitters off balance all night.
Boston wasted little time giving Tolle some run support.
The Red Sox struck first in the opening inning with a pair of two-out hits. Wilyer Abreu drove a ball off the wall in center for a triple before Willson Contreras lined an RBI single to center, giving Boston a 1-0 lead.
They broke the game open an inning later.
Boston loaded the bases with nobody out on a bunt single, a base hit and a walk. Making his first start after being called up when Marcelo Mayer landed on the injured list, Tsung-Che Cheng beat out a potential inning-ending double play to record the first RBI of his major league career.
Mickey Gasper followed with another hustle play, legging out a potential double-play ball to drive in a run and stretch the Red Sox lead to 3-0.
Contreras added the exclamation point in the fourth.
The first baseman demolished a 1-2 offering from the Yankees, sending it 418 feet over the Green Monster for his 17th home run of the season. The blast extended Boston’s lead to 4-0 and put Contreras on pace for a career-high 34 home runs.
Willson Contreras sends one wayyyy over the Green Monster 💪 pic.twitter.com/p1OiRnWnp6
— MLB (@MLB) June 26, 2026
Contreras wasn’t finished making an impact after driving in Boston’s first run of the night.
The Red Sox first baseman found himself in the middle of a heated