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Payton Tolle Shares Lofty Praise For Ex-Red Sox Ace After Tense Pitching Duel originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Boston Red Sox's past, present and future all collided on Thursday as Red Sox lefty Payton Tolle battled Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale at Fenway Park.
Tolle, 23, is in his second Major League season but still has rookie eligibility. Thursday was only his 10th career MLB start, but Red Sox fans hope there are many more to come based on his 2.61 ERA this season.
Meanwhile, Sale is still pitching at an elite level at age 37. After a successful run with Boston from 2017 to 2023 that included a World Series championship, he was traded to the Braves ahead of the 2024 campaign and promptly won his first Cy Young award.
After the game, Tolle shared some high praise for Sale during his postgame press conference.
"Sale is a guy I’ve watched for a long time… A guy that I really like to watch," Tolle said. "And I’ve heard really amazing things up and down through this org, about him and just the man he is. Good pitcher, but he’s just a good guy."
Thursday's showdown started out as a pitcher's duel between the two southpaws. Tolle allowed two runs through 4 2/3 innings, while Sale gave up two runs in five innings at his old stomping grounds. They combined for 15 strikeouts as well, with Sale posting his highest four-seam fastball average velocity since 2019.
While the game was tied when Tolle departed, Atlanta erupted for eight runs against Boston's bullpen, cruising to a 10-2 win in the series finale.
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