{"id":2369,"date":"2026-06-10T07:33:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T07:33:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2369"},"modified":"2026-06-10T07:33:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T07:33:52","slug":"payton-tolle-red-sox-stumble-against-rays-on-the-road-to-drop-11-games-below-500","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2369","title":{"rendered":"Payton Tolle, Red Sox stumble against Rays on the road to drop 11 games below .500"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span>ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 Mickey Gasper had an urgent task after Tuesday night\u2019s game.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2367\">Once a team built around slugging designated hitters, Red Sox now struggle to fill the role<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>The Red Sox had just lost, 4-3, to the Rays, dropping to 27-38 \u2014 the farthest south of .500 the team has been since the final day of the woeful 2020 campaign. Gasper\u2019s grounder to first in the ninth inning ended the contest.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But earlier, Gasper had twice threatened the fences. According to Statcast, his 338-foot flyball into the right-field corner in the fourth inning would have been a homer in eight of 30 big league parks; in the Tropicana Dome, it turned into an out when right fielder Austin Slater made a leaping catch against the fence.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>And in the seventh inning, with the Sox down 3-1 and a man on base, Gasper again squared a ball that he thought would be a game-tying, two-run homer. In 12 parks, it might have been. In the Trop, Slater settled under the 345-foot, inning-ending flyout.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><span>Get Starting Point<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><label>Enter Email<\/label><\/p>\n<div><button>Sign Up<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>\u201cI thought I got them both,\u201d rued Gasper.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Vexed by his inability to clear the fences on a night when the Sox lost by one run, Gasper went on a postgame mission.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI just put in a bat order with [clubhouse manager Tommy McLaughlin], because I\u2019m pretty frustrated with what I got,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>There has been plenty of frustration to share for the Red Sox throughout the 2026 season. The team\u2019s loss to the Rays on Tuesday captured plenty of it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>After the Sox took a 1-0 lead in the third inning against Tampa Bay starter Nick Martinez (who buzz-sawed through the first seven innings of the game in just 67 pitches), the Rays lineup proved true to relentlessly irksome form against Sox starter Payton Tolle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Rays are the hardest team in baseball to strike out. Tolle and the Sox experienced a signature display of that high-contact approach \u2014 and its consequences for pitchers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cBalls in play equal hits. They do a good job with that. They always have,\u201d said Sox interim manager Chad Tracy. \u201cToday they just happened to fall in two-out situations with runners in scoring position to tally runs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2365\">With the primary over, welcome to Platner purgatory summer<\/a><\/p>\n<div><span>Related<span>: <\/span><\/span>Peter Abraham | On baseball: Once a team built around slugging designated hitters, Red Sox now struggle to fill the role<\/div>\n<p><span>With two outs in the fourth inning, the Rays strung together three straight run-scoring hits from Cedric Mullins (single on a two-strike sinker to make it 1-1), Ben Williamson (double on a two-strike four-seamer, 2-1), and a Nick Fortes chopper that bounced over third baseman Caleb Durbin and down the left-field line (double, 3-1). The Rays later added another two-out run in the sixth against Tolle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI don\u2019t know how many times I got to two strikes today, but once again, another day where I just couldn\u2019t seem to put them away,\u201d said Tolle (3-3, 2.70 ERA), who yielded season-highs in runs (4) and hits (9) while striking out just three in six innings. \u201c[I\u2019ve] just got to get those [fastballs] to where I\u2019m going to get my swing-and-miss.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><span>While the Sox offered little resistance \u2013 save for Gasper\u2019s two near-misses \u2013 to Martinez (6-2, 2.43) through seven innings, they nearly overcame their three-run deficit against him in the eighth inning on Tuesday when the bottom of the  order finally broke through against the Rays\u2019 righthander.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Durbin led off with a single and reached second on Isiah Kiner-Falefa\u2019s second knock of the game. Both sprinted home when Marcelo Mayer grounded a well-placed double down the right field line, making it a 4-3 game.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But reliever Kevin Kelly played the role of fireman as Martinez\u2019s replacement. He got a groundout from Jarren Duran that advanced Mayer to third. With the infield drawn in and one out, Ceddanne Rafaela smashed a grounder (106 miles pere hour) directly to second baseman Richie Palacios, with Mayer unable to score.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cMy approach was through the middle but in the air so I can bring in the run,\u201d said Rafaela. \u201cYou don\u2019t control [what happens when you square a ball]. You just want to barrel the ball and hope that does the job.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div><span>Related<span>: <\/span><\/span>Red Sox notebook: Hard-throwing reliever Tyron Guerrero turns a page with the Red Sox<\/div>\n<p><span>Wilyer Abreu followed with an inning-ending groundout against Kelly, ending the last Sox threat. The team went meekly in the ninth against Rays closer Bryan Baker (18 saves), dropping to 12\u00bd games behind the Rays in the AL East.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><span>The Sox have a 6-13 record in the division. The Rays, meanwhile, are 16-6 against the AL East, and have won all 11 of their home games against divisional opponents this season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly frustrating,\u201d said Gasper. \u201cWe\u2019re all trying to help the team win, and we\u2019re knocking at the door every night. \u2026 We\u2019re coming up a little short right now, and the only thing you can do is look in the mirror.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2363\">Platner wins Democratic Senate nomination in Maine<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Red Sox plummeted as far below the break-even point as the ill-fated 2020 club that finished with a 24-36 mark.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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