You never know what you might see at the ballpark. You could even see a hug between two players result in an out.
During the top of the third inning of the Boston Red Sox’s 9-8 win over the Seattle Mariners on Monday night at Fenway Park, Red Sox starting pitcher Payton Tolle discovered a new way to record an out.
With one out and no one on base, Mariners designated hitter Dominic Canzone hit a weak dribbler toward the pitcher’s mound. Tolle, all 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, came barreling off the mound, quickly fielded the ball and then ran toward Canzone along the first-base line.
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Canzone, seeing that Tolle had him beat to the first-base bag, slowed down. Tolle, instead of simply tagging Canzone, hugged him for the out.
“It just kind of happened,” Tolle said with a laugh, according to The Athletic. “I was right there in front of him, like, ‘Bring it in for the big one.’”
Tolle said Canzone was probably a little surprised by his embrace.
“I mean, probably for a second,” Tolle said. “But then it’s like, ‘Yeah, this is just going to happen.’”
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As for Tolle and Canzone, that was their first interaction.
“No, but we do (know each other) now,” Tolle said when asked if he had met Canzone before the hug.
For Tolle’s Red Sox teammates, hugs from the big left-hander are nothing new.
“The guy gives hugs all the time, so I’m not sure which one you’re talking about,” Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story joked, according to MLB.com. “But yeah, that was funny, man. Payton’s just a special person. He plays the game like a little kid, which I feel like we all should.”
Tolle pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed four runs on six hits and two walks while striking out six and earning a no-decision.
The Red Sox (75-63) erased a three-run deficit in the eighth and ninth innings to force extra-innings before winning on Story’s walk-off single. They will look to keep their positive momentum going when they play the Mariners (64-74) in the second game of their three-game series at 6:45 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
