'A little reset' helps Tolle reboot for scoreless start against White Sox

CHICAGO -- Rookie wall?

Payton Tolle felt no such thing, not even when he had his worst start of the season last Wednesday at Fenway Park, getting just nine outs and giving up six runs in a demoralizing defeat to the Nationals.

The lefty spent the last six days chomping at the bit to get back out there and redeem himself against a team in the White Sox that has been one of the best surprise stories in Major League Baseball in the first half of the season.

In a brilliant performance at Rate Field, Tolle proved again why he has been one of the biggest bright spots for his team in 2026, holding Chicago to two hits over six scoreless innings, while leading the surging Red Sox to an 8-1 victory on Tuesday night.

While Tolle looked flat his previous time out on a miserably hot and humid day in Boston, he had his familiar fire back during a perfect summer evening on Chicago’s South SIde.

Did he make any major adjustments?

“Put on the left shoe first,” Tolle quipped. “No, we were able to flood the zone, and early on, I thought we were having competitive misses, but still missing. After that, I was able to calm down, flood the zone and got comfortable. [Catcher Connor] Wong was great tonight, so we got in a good groove.”

The Red Sox are also in a groove, ripping off nine wins in their last 11 games, including the first four on this nine-game trip that will take them to the All-Star break.

“I think we're playing good baseball right now, so just keep rolling,” Tolle said. “I think seeing these guys loose and going crazy is a whole lot of fun. A lot of big swings tonight. That was a lot of fun.”

It is easy to tell when Tolle is pitching well, because you can see the fun he is having as he prances around the mound and talks animatedly to his defenders and himself.

When right fielder Wilyer Abreu camped under Tolle’s 18th and final out of the night, Tolle pumped his fist on his way back to the dugout.

“I think last outing, I was out of character is probably the best way to put it,” Tolle said, “Just kind of like getting nitpicky, not really just flying through zone. And I thought we did a better job of that this game, so was able to go play an athletic catch [in between starts], have a good good bullpen, and was able to do the right things to press the right buttons to come back out here and be able to compete.”

When Tolle is hitting the edges with his heater, which averaged 96.3 mph in this 91-pitch outing, he is tough to beat.

"It’s all about the fastball with him,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “He’s got a really good fastball. He commanded it well and beat us in the zone with it. Saw a lot of foul balls. We just weren’t able to move anything forward. Then he was able to get to the offspeed stuff as well."

Tolle finished his night with a flourish, retiring 15 of the last 16 Chicago hitters.

“Late [in the game], he was very good,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said. “He did fine early, just, he lost some counts early on. There were some foul balls mixed in there, so you saw the count starting to climb again, and then he found it and didn't let go of it.”

In eight of his 14 starts this season, Tolle has allowed two runs or fewer. Tuesday was the fourth outing he didn’t give up a run.

This, from a 23-year-old who was selected by the Red Sox out of TCU with the 50th overall pick just two years ago.

“Tolle has big talent. He's a future ace, for sure,” All-Star first baseman Willson Contreras said. “That's what I see for him. What I like the most is how he controls himself on the mound and controls his pace. For me, the sky's the limit with that guy.”

For as animated as Tolle is personality-wise, he is very faithful to the process that it takes to be successful.

The rare times Tolle has struggled this season, he has swiftly recovered. That was again the case on Tuesday.

“Just a recalibration, a little reset,” Tolle said.