BOSTON -- Red Sox left-hander Payton Tolle took the Fenway Park mound Sunday afternoon with a heavy heart.
Pitching two years and a day after his mother, Jina, died following a nearly eight-year battle with colon cancer, the 23-year-old Tolle wore his pant legs near his knees showing his pink socks on Mother's Day.
When his start was rained out Saturday, Tolle had a lot more time to think about what pitching the next day would be like.
"This week is really tough for me. I'm not going to lie to you," he said, holding back tears after Boston's 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. "It's a tough weekend. I think yesterday would have been just as hard. I try to ... it's tough.
"So, I try to get away from it as much as I can but at the same time it's life," he said. "It's part of it. Some things are bigger than baseball in that aspect."
Jina died on May 9, 2024, at 48 years old, and Payton had a song in mind that he was holding for a certain day.
He took the mound, warming up for his start with the song "Mother" by the band Danzig playing in the background. He has changed his song many times before he has pitched but decided this was the one to honor his mom.
"There's a little of a joke with my dad," he said, cracking a bit of a smile. "Just that song, I've had it in the back pocket for a long time, so I think it's a pretty good walk-out song. You've got to roll with it."
Tolle (1-2) gave up three runs in five innings, with seven hits and four strikeouts. He was coming off his first big league victory in his previous start, when he gave up a hit and struck out eight at Detroit on Monday.
What would his mom say after this start?
"Suck it up and do better," he said, smiling.
