The Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals had to wait a while to finally play the series finale at Fenway Park on Sunday afternoon. After pushing the scheduled start time from 1:35 p.m. ET to 3:05 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon, rainstorms lingered in the area nearly two hours longer than expected, forcing an additional delay of nearly two hours. However, rookie left-hander Payton Tolle made the wait worth it for fans in attendance, becoming the eighth pitcher in franchise history to toss an immaculate inning.
Tolle came out of the gates firing in the first inning, making quick work of Kansas City leadoff man Nick Loftin, punching him out on three straight fastballs. Tolle continued with the fastball to shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., retiring the All-Star on three straight fastballs, the last of which was beautifully placed in on the hands of Witt, which he cut through. Utilizing the age-old tale of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,’ Tolle stuck with the four-seamer against power-hitting designated hitter Jac Caglianone. After getting the 23-year-old to cut through a fastball well above the zone to get ahead in the count 0-2, both Tolle and the Fenway Park crowd realized that the young left-hander was on the verge of history. Tolle cracked a smile on the mound as the crowd rose to their feet; the 23-year-old delivered a 98 mph fastball on the outer half of the plate, getting Caglianone to swing and miss for the fifth immaculate inning of the 2026 regular season.
Sep 13, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Payton Tolle (70) reacts during the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park. Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images
With the feat, Tolle became the first Red Sox pitcher since Chris Sale to throw an immaculate inning, which Sale did on Aug. 26, 2021, against the Minnesota Twins. According to Red Sox Nation Stats on Twitter/X, Tolle was just the second pitcher in franchise history to throw an immaculate inning since Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez did so on May 18, 2002, against the Seattle Mariners.
This story will be updated at the conclusion of the game.