Boston Red Sox manager Chad Tracy pulled rookie left-hander Payton Tolle in the fifth inning of Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series against the New York Yankees on September 29, 2026, after 83 pitches with two outs and nobody on base.
Tolle was pitching a strong game, allowing just one run on five hits and one walk while striking out four batters through 4.2 innings. However, Tracy decided to go to the bullpen and brought in southpaw Erik Miller to face Yankees hitter Ben Rice.
The move backfired immediately: Rice hit a homerun on Miller’s third pitch to extend the Yankees’ lead to 2-0. The Red Sox ultimately lost the game 9-0. Tolle took the loss but offered a defiant, resilient attitude postgame, stating that the series wasn’t over yet.
Tolle made an honest statement after his team’s Wild Card defeat to Yankees. While Tolle was pretty hard on himself about his outing, he wasn’t the main reason the Red Sox lost on Tuesday.
“Wasn’t good enough. They had a good plan and I threw a lot of balls… just didn’t feel like I could command the zone. I kind of let some at-bats get away from me.”