Tolle's 8-Inning Gem Ends Red Sox's 5-Game Skid, 7-0
Rookie Payton Tolle allowed just two hits and Caleb Durbin hit a grand slam as Boston snapped its longest losing streak of the season.
Rookie right-hander Payton Tolle allowed two hits over eight innings, and Caleb Durbin hit a grand slam as the Boston Red Sox snapped a five-game losing streak with a 7-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday.
Tolle (8-6) struck out four, threw 91 pitches and retired his final 17 batters, matching the longest outing of his career. Greg Weissert closed out the ninth.
The skid matched Boston's worst of the season — the Red Sox also lost five straight after their season opener — but the team remains comfortably positioned for an American League wild-card playoff spot. Boston had won nine straight before dropping two at home to the Athletics and the first three games of this series in Toronto.
The Red Sox led 1-0 before Durbin broke the game open in the eighth inning, hitting a 1-0 sweeper from Chase Lee into the Blue Jays' bullpen in left field. Durbin also added an RBI single in the ninth, finishing 3-for-5 on the day.
Willson Contreras drove in a run with a single in the first inning against Max Scherzer (1-5), who surpassed 3,000 career innings pitched in the loss. The 42-year-old worked five innings, allowing one run on three hits with four strikeouts. Scherzer and Justin Verlander are the only active major leaguers to reach the 3,000-inning mark.
Boston left-hander Jake Bennett (7-5, 3.17 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday's series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Toronto right-hander Shane Bieber (3-2, 4.58 ERA) will take the mound against the New York Yankees.
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