BOSTON -- Payton Tolle showed up at Fenway Park on Sunday morning, saluted his manager as he does every day and began to prepare for his start, despite the uncertainty of a game time with a lingering rainstorm.
“He came in and gave me my salute this morning,” interim manager Chad Tracy said, “and he said, ‘3:05?’ And I was like, ‘Plan on it.’ And he's like, ‘But be ready to pivot?’ I was like, ‘Be ready to pivot.’ And that was the last I saw him. So he'll be ready.”
Tolle wasn’t just ready; he was immaculate.
Three minutes after throwing the first pitch of the game, Tolle walked off the mound and pumped his fist, having recorded just the eighth immaculate inning on record for the Red Sox.
Sunday’s finale was originally slated to start at 1:05 p.m. ET, but on Saturday the game was pushed back to 3:05 p.m. due to forecasted rain. The game was further delayed on Sunday, with Tolle taking the mound and throwing the first pitch at 4:55 p.m. Even with the shifting start time, Tolle maintained his composure.
The lefty got Royals leadoff hitter Nick Loftin looking, Bobby Witt Jr. swinging and Jac Caglianone swinging on a 97.9 mph fastball –- his fastest pitch of the inning –- to complete the feat.
Tolle’s immaculate inning is the first since Chris Sale threw one on Aug. 26, 2021, against Minnesota, and marked just the second on record for Boston to come in the first inning. Coincidentally, Boston’s first immaculate inning in the first frame also came after a rain delay on May 18, 2002, when Pedro Martínez struck out the Mariners on nine consecutive pitches to open the game.