Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 0: Tolle Goes Eight, Durbin Hits a Grand Slam

August 13, 2026 - Toronto - Payton Tolle needed a long afternoon more than he needed another 14-strikeout night. The Boston Red Sox were on a five-game skid, short in the bullpen, and staring at Max Scherzer in a park that had already taken three from them this series. Tolle gave them eight scoreless innings on two hits. Caleb Durbin turned a 1-0 game into a rout with a grand slam in the eighth. Final: 7-0, and the skid was over.

Greg Weissert threw the ninth. Toronto managed two hits all day. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had one of them in the first. Nathan Lukes had the other in the third. Tolle retired the last 17.

One run against 3,000 innings, then a long wait

Wilyer Abreu walked in the first. Willson Contreras doubled him in. 1-0. That was the entire scoring against Scherzer, who worked five innings, three hits, one run, two walks, four strikeouts, and passed 3,000 career innings. He and Justin Verlander are the only active pitchers there. He still left trailing, 1-5 on the year.

Boston put men on against Scherzer in the fourth and could not cash them. Spencer Miles and Braydon Fisher kept it 1-0 into the eighth. Tolle did not need a big lead. He needed outs. Pitch counts by inning: 16, 12, 9, 6, 9, 15, 12, 12. Ninety-one pitches. Four strikeouts, all from the sixth on. He had used 14 punchouts in six innings his last time out. This was the other version: weak contact, two double plays, five foul pops.

The Blue Jays put the leadoff man on in the first (walk) and the second (walk). Both innings died. After Lukes's single in the third, Tolle did not allow another hit.

Durbin, a hanging sweeper, and a 5-0 eighth

Chase Lee inherited a 1-0 game. Ceddanne Rafaela infield single. Abreu single. Contreras bunted them over. Masataka Yoshida was walked intentionally. Durbin hit a 1-0 sweeper into the left-field bullpen. Grand slam, his 12th homer of the season, and his second slam this month. 5-0.

Boston added two in the ninth off Lazaro Estrada. Nick Sogard walked. Rafaela was hit. A wild pitch moved them. Yoshida's sacrifice fly scored Sogard. Durbin singled Rafaela in. 7-0. Durbin finished 3-for-5 with five RBI.

Toronto is 59-64. The Red Sox are 65-56, still in the AL wild-card mix, and they went 4-9 against the Jays this season, their most losses to any club. They still left town with the series not a sweep, and with the best record in the majors since the trade deadline (19-8).

What now?

Jake Bennett starts Friday in Pittsburgh. Shane Bieber starts for Toronto against the Yankees. Scherzer's afternoon was fine enough to keep a 1-0 game in reach. Lee's eighth was not. Tolle never gave the lead back.

AthX Engine angle

The Red Sox finished with 17 AthX Engine team fantasy points, tied with the Angels and Nationals for second on Thursday's board. Tolle had 28 pitching fantasy points, third behind Cavalli and Ashcraft. Durbin had 12 hitting fantasy points. Toronto finished at -8 team fantasy points. Scherzer still posted 10 pitching fantasy points in a loss, which is the board grading the line, not only the W.

Track Tolle, Durbin, and the Red Sox on the marketplace. AthX Engine grades the night. Price is what the market pays tomorrow.

*Sources: MLB.com gameday wrap, ESPN box score, AP recap via CBS, AthX Engine daily scoring for August 13, 2026. Information only; not financial advice.*