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CHICAGO — Since last Wednesday, Payton Tolle had thought about his last outing — a three-inning start in which he allowed a season-high six runs on seven hits.
The Red Sox lefty thought about it on the flight out to Anaheim that night, and with two off-days on the schedule sandwiched around the series with the Angels, he had even more time to ruminate.
But apparently, he put his time to good use. Tuesday was his opportunity to flush that memory.
“I had a recalibration, a reset,” said Tolle after he blanked the Chicago White Sox over six innings in the Red Sox’ 8-1 win at Rate Field. “I needed it a little bit. It was good. The last outing, I was out of character, is probably the best way to put it. I was kind of getting nitpicky and not really flying through the zone. I thought we did a better job of that in this game. I was able to press the right buttons and come back out here and compete.
“Those (poor outings) are going to happen. But you learn and go on to the next (one). And we needed it. So we learned a lot about ourselves.”
Though his line was sparkling, Tolle struggled some in the first two innings, getting deep in counts and laboring some. But after allowing an infield single to start the second, he got locked into a groove and retired 15 of the final 16 hitters he faced.
Importantly, after walking the first hitter of the night, he didn’t issue another pass the rest of the way and struck out six. The two hits off him were both singles.
“Me and (Connor Wong) were able to synch up,” said Tolle. “It was good. We just flooded the zone. We were able to get ahead of guys more in the later innings. Sometimes with Wonger, you just sit back and he starts pressing the buttons and it’s like, ‘OK, let’s go.’ ”
Thanks to some longer at-bats in the first inning that drove up his pitch count some, he was at 92 pitches after six innings. But he had more than done his job.
“It’s just baseball, man,” said Willson Contreras of Tolle’s poor showing at the end of the last homestand. “When a starting pitcher has something like that and is a little bit off in a game, it doesn’t mean that he’s going to carry it to the next game. Tolle has big talent. He’s a future ace, for sure. That’s what I see in him.
“What I like the most is the way he controls himself on the mound and controls his pace. For me, the sky’s the limit with that guy.”
- BETTING: For Wednesday’s game versus the White Sox, Red Sox moneyline is set at -102 on FanDuel. Our comprehensive FanDuel Sportsbook review provides a full guide on how to navigate their app.
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