The Red Sox turned a manageable deficit into a rout with five runs in the fifth inning, defeating Baltimore 8-1 at Fenway Park. Boston had built a 3-0 lead through three innings before exploding for their biggest offensive outburst of the night.
Payton Tolle dominated through six shutout innings, allowing seven hits while striking out five batters. The right-hander walked two and threw 99 pitches to earn his third win of the season. His ERA stands at 2.66.
The decisive fifth inning began when Mickey Gasper tripled to right, scoring Willson Contreras and Masataka Yoshida. Isiah Kiner-Falefa followed with a double to left that brought Gasper home, then Caleb Durbin doubled to left to score Kiner-Falefa. Ceddanne Rafaela capped the rally with an infield single to first that allowed Durbin to score.
Chris Bassitt struggled through three innings for Baltimore, surrendering six hits and three runs while walking two. The veteran right-hander struck out one and threw 56 pitches before departing with his fourth loss. His record fell to 4-4 with a 5.27 ERA.
Boston snapped a one-game losing streak to improve to 25-34. Baltimore's three-game winning streak ended as they dropped to 29-32.