{
  "id": 7177523,
  "title": "Red Sox starter Payton Tolle opens game vs. Royals with immaculate inning",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/13/red-sox-starter-payton-tolle-opens-game-vs-royals-with-immaculate",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-13T21:24:13.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/article/red-sox-starter-payton-tolle-opens-game-vs-royals-with-immaculate-inning-212413806.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In the opening game of the Sunday match against the Kansas City Royals, the Boston Red Sox initiated proceedings with a perfect note. The starting pitcher for the Red Sox, Payton Tolle, delivered an immaculate inning during the top of the first inning, setting a rare MLB record. Tolle managed to retire the first three Royals with just nine pitches, a feat that has only been accomplished eight times in Red Sox history, most recently by Chris Sale on August 26, 2021. This remarkable performance by Tolle places the total number of immaculate innings in MLB history at 124, though they have become somewhat more frequent in recent years as pitchers improve their skills and speeds.",
  "summary": "Tolle threw a perfect first inning, just 2 days after Diamondbacks reliever Justin Martinez also achieved the feat.",
  "key_points": [
    "Payton Tolle starts Red Sox vs. Royals game with immaculate inning",
    "Tolle retires first three Royals with nine pitches",
    "First immaculate inning in MLB since Chris Sale in 2021"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}