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Instant Reaction: Payton Tolle dominates Blue Jays to prevent series sweep
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Photo credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images
Michael Coyle
Aug 13, 2026, 17:41 EDT
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The Toronto Blue Jays were unable to complete the four-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox on Thursday, dropping the series finale 7-0. 
With the loss, the Blue Jays now sit at 59-64 for the season but with five straight series wins, Toronto has climbed back into Wild Card contention with 39 games to play. 
This afternoon was the Payton Tolle show, as the left-hander cruised past the Blue Jays in what was his third time facing them this season. Tolle turned in a pitching line of 8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K and needed only 91 pitches to get through his eight innings of work. 
The left-hander has the chance to be a force in the American League East for many years to come and is putting together a very strong rookie season. Through 20 starts, Tolle is 8-6 with a 2.97 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. The 23-year-old has struck out 128 batters across his 115 innings pitched and has held opponents to a .214 average. 
The only real threat during the contest for the Blue Jays came in the bottom of the first inning. After Tolle walked Charles McAdoo on four pitches to open the frame, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. blooped a one-out single to set up runners on first and second. From there, Tolle settled in, getting George Springer to ground out and Kazuma Okamoto to pop out, and that was the final time a Blue Jays baserunner saw third base. 
The Red Sox opened the scoring in the first inning and never looked back. After Wilyer Abreu worked a two-out walk off Max Scherzer, Willson Contreras drove a 1-2 changeup from the right-hander into the right-centre gap to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead. 
While Scherzer, Spencer Miles, and Braydon Fisher kept the Red Sox lineup in check for much of the afternoon, the floodgates opened in the top of the eighth when manager John Schneider turned to right-hander Chase Lee. 
Ceddanne Rafaela and Abreu opened the frame with back-to-back singles before Contreras dropped down a sacrifice bunt to set up two runners in scoring position. With first base open, the Blue Jays opted to intentionally walk Masataka Yoshida, but the next batter, Caleb Durbin clubbed a hanging sweeper from Lee into the Blue Jays’ bullpen for a grand slam and his 12th home run of the season. 
In the ninth inning, Yoshida hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded off the recently recalled Lazaro Estrada to push the Red Sox lead to 7-0. Durbin, who followed, continued his big day with an RBI single to close his performance with a 3-for-5 showing and five RBIs. 
Scherzer turned in his third straight strong outing as the right-hander continues to look healthy since being activated from the injured list on July 27. Scherzer tossed a pitching line of 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K and used 92 pitches to get through his five frames. 
After completing the first inning, Scherzer reached the 3,000th career inning mark, joining Justin Verlander as the only active pitchers with 3000 and becoming the 139th to do so in MLB history. Sitting 10th all-time with 3520 strikeouts, Scherzer needs 14 more punchouts to pass Gaylord Perry for ninth all-time. 
For the season, Scherzer has made 10 starts and is 1-5 with a 6.59 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. The right-hander has struck out 31 batters across his 41 innings, and over his three August outings, holds a 2.38 ERA. 
The Blue Jays will have Shane Bieber on the mound when they open a series Friday night against the New York Yankees. The Yankees will counter with right-hander Gerrit Cole. 
First pitch is 7:15 p.m. ET at Rogers Centre.
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