Payton Tolle strikes out 14 as Red Sox crush Athletics, 13-1, for ninth straight win

The Red Sox and Athletics have spent the past month and a half heading in completely opposite directions, and Friday night at Fenway Park was a pretty good representation of where both teams currently stand.

Boston continued its remarkable run with a 13-1 shellacking of the Athletics, extending its winning streak to nine games behind a career night from Payton Tolle and another offensive outburst.

The Red Sox have now won 11 of their last 12, 27 of 30 and 35 of 43. They also pulled back to .500 at Fenway Park at 29-29 after winning for the 12th time in their last 14 home games.

Despite the offensive explosion, Tolle was the entire story for the Red Sox. 

The rookie left-hander struck out a career-high 14 over six innings, allowing just one run on two hits without issuing a walk. He retired the first 12 batters he faced and generated 24 swings and misses, the most by a Red Sox pitcher since James Paxton had 25 in June 2023.

“It doesn’t get much better than that,” said Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy. “He was electric, he was really, really good.”

Tolle struck out five of the first six Athletics he faced and had nine punchouts through four innings. His fastball averaged 97.6 mph and touched 99 several times as he struck out every member of the A's starting lineup at least once except Lawrence Butler.

His 14 strikeouts were the most by a Red Sox pitcher since Chris Sale struck out 17 on May 14, 2019, and the most by a Boston pitcher age 23 or younger since Roger Clemens' 20-strikeout game against Seattle in 1986. Tolle also became the first pitcher in franchise history to record at least 14 strikeouts in fewer than seven innings.

“Good company,” said of being up there with Sale. “It means a lot but it’s not the end, just got to keep going and building off each one.”

The Red Sox gave Tolle more than enough run support, leading them to another win.

After Masataka Yoshida grounded out to begin the second and Andruw Monasterio walked, Jarren Duran launched a two-run homer into the Monster Seats for his 16th of the season and third in his last five games.

“Just putting good swings on the ball, trusting my process,” said Duran to reporters after the game, “and trusting my plan at the plate and it’s just been working for me. Honestly, it’s just about trusting myself and trying my approach at the plate and not skewing from it. That’s kind of something that I struggle with a lot — I get too anxious and I don’t trust my process and it shows when I start to chase and stuff.”

Anthony Seigler and Jake Rogers followed with back-to-back doubles, with Rogers driving in Boston's third run. Nick Sogard walked before Wilyer Abreu nearly left the yard, settling for a two-run double off the top of the wall in right to make it 5-0.

The Red Sox added four more in the fourth on a botched pickoff attempt, an Abreu RBI single, a Yoshida RBI double and a Monasterio RBI single. Sacrifice flies from Caleb Durbin and Yoshida added two more in the sixth before Ceddanne Rafaela and Durbin drove in runs in the seventh.

Boston finished with 15 hits and scored at least 12 runs for the second straight night, the first time the Red Sox have accomplished that in consecutive games since May 2016.

Seigler also showed signs that he may be working his way out of an extended slump. After hitting just .172 over a 20-game stretch and losing playing time at second base to Sogard, he followed Thursday's two-hit performance with a single and double Friday. It's his first time recording multiple hits in consecutive games since June 24-25.

Rogers continues to make the most of what could be a short stay as Boston's backup catcher. Acquired from Baltimore in the Adley Rutschman trade, the veteran doubled off the Green Monster in each of his first two plate appearances after delivering a game-tying sacrifice fly in Thursday's 13-inning win.

The Athletics finally broke through against Tolle in the fifth when Tyler Soderstrom won an ABS challenge to stay alive before lifting a solo homer into the Red Sox bullpen. It ended Tolle's perfect-game and shutout bids, but hardly slowed him down.

He struck out the next two hitters, then added three more punchouts in the sixth to finish his night. As Tolle walked off the mound, the sellout crowd serenaded him with chants of his name.

“That’s a first for me,” Tolle said. “That was pretty cool. Not going to lie.”

Raymond Burgos took it from there and gave Boston's taxed bullpen exactly what it needed one night after a 13-inning marathon against Chicago. Called up from Worcester earlier Friday, Burgos retired all nine hitters he faced over three perfect innings to record his first career save.

The Red Sox are now one win away from their second winning streak of at least 10 games this season. Another victory would also give them a 10th consecutive series win, moving them within one of the franchise record set by the 1912 Red Sox.

Southpaw Jake Bennett (7-4, 2.90 ERA) will try to keep the run going Saturday against Athletics left-hander Gage Jump (4-7, 4.59 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 p.m.

Rutschman Begins Rehab Assignment

After the game, Tracy confirmed that Rutschman will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester on Saturday. The plan is for the newly acquired catcher to catch five innings and receive two or three at-bats as he works his way back from left wrist inflammation. Rutschman has been on the injured list since July 20.

Whether he'll be ready to join the Red Sox during their seven-game road trip, which begins Monday in Toronto, remains uncertain.

“I have no idea,” Tracy said. “Being that it’s five innings right now, maybe not. But we’ll talk through it. It’s his first game back and he’s catching (just) five innings, so I’m sure they’re going to want to build him up a little bit. I’m not going to put the cart before the horse. Let’s just see him get through that one.”

In the meantime, Connor Wong and Rogers will handle the catching duties. Rogers, who came over from Baltimore with Rutschman at the trade deadline, made his first Red Sox start Friday and made an immediate impact, reaching base three times with two doubles and a walk while scoring three runs.