Red Sox Rookie Payton Tolle Throws Immaculate Inning to Open Start Against Royals

Boston Red Sox rookie left-hander Payton Tolle opened his rain-delayed start against the Kansas City Royals on Sunday by striking out the side on nine pitches, an immaculate inning delivered in front of the Fenway Park crowd.

Tolle, 23, needed only eight four-seam fastballs and one sinker to retire the top of Kansas City’s lineup. Before his ninth and final pitch, he glanced toward home plate, aware he was on the verge of the feat, then struck out Jac Caglianone to seal it. The only contact the Royals managed all inning came on pitch seven, a sinker Caglianone barely fouled off.

It was the 125th immaculate inning in Major League Baseball history and just the eighth by a Red Sox pitcher since 1901. Tolle became the first Boston pitcher to do it since Chris Sale in 2021, and the first to do it in the opening inning of a game since Pedro Martinez against Seattle in May 2002.

Tolle went on to pitch six shutout innings, giving up four hits and one walk while striking out seven on 96 pitches, as Boston won 4-1. The seven strikeouts pushed his rookie-season total to 166, second in Red Sox history behind only Daisuke Matsuzaka’s 201 in 2007.

An Old-School Approach

The performance came a day after Tolle told reporters he favors letting starters work deep into games rather than sticking to the pitch-count limits now standard across baseball.

“I would probably consider myself more on the old-school side of it,” Tolle said. “I grew up thinking that a starter needs to go as long as possible every time … every time I go out there, I want to throw a complete game. It’s a special thing that is being lost in today’s game.”

With Boston fighting for an American League wild-card berth, a rookie eager to stay on the mound deep into games could prove valuable down the stretch.