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Keagan Stiefel

By Keagan Stiefel

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The Boston Red Sox are absolutely rolling...

If you're one of those people who needs numbers to put things into perspective, just know that they've outscored opponents 179-88 while going 27-4 since July 1.

It's safe to say that they've been the best team in baseball since the start of the summer, but they were expected to hit one of those few-and-far-between roadblocks on Friday. Payton Tolle, who already surpassed his career-high in innings pitched in a season, was scheduled to toe the rubber. Raymond Burgos, who was called up earlier that morning, was the only member of the bullpen available after everyone else was deployed in a marathon 12-11 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday.

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The Red Sox honestly just wanted to survive the night and pick things back up on the other side...

Payton Tolle #70 of the Boston Red Sox

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Tolle and Burgos had other plans, however.

Tolle put together the best outing of his young career, finishing with a career-high 14 strikeouts while allowing just two hits across six innings against the Athletics. Burgos, who most fans had never heard of when they woke up, locked down a three-inning save and preserved a bullpen that desperately needed it.

Anthony Seigler, Jake Rogers, and Andruw Monasterio -- who have a combined OPS+ below league average in 2026 -- finished with multi-hit games from the bottom of the order and powered the offense to its third double-digit scoring output across the last four games.

It's something new every night with these guys...

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