Red Sox 3, Orioles 1: Tolle's 12 Ks, Chapman's 400th Save

September 6, 2026 - Baltimore - Gunnar Henderson dove for a two-out grounder in the second and did not come up with it. Eli White then hit Kyle Bradish's next mistake over the left-field wall. Three runs. Camden Yards was 3-1 Boston, and the inning had been one clean backhand from staying 1-0.

The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-1 and completed a four-game sweep. Payton Tolle struck out 12 in six innings. Aroldis Chapman recorded the 400th save of his career in the ninth. Boston scored three unearned runs and never needed a fourth.

Mayo doubled, then Tolle took the rest

Coby Mayo doubled with two outs in the first. Christian Encarnacion-Strand doubled him home. 1-0, and Baltimore had the lead it had been missing after two straight shutout losses. Tolle (9-6) did not walk a batter after that. Four hits, one run, 12 strikeouts, 91 pitches, zero free passes. Encarnacion-Strand finished with the RBI and three strikeouts. Pete Alonso had two of Baltimore's five hits and struck out twice.

Twelve punchouts in six innings with no walks is a different conversation from a messy four-run start. Tolle kept the ball in the park. He let the infield play. He handed a 3-1 lead to Jovani Morán and Erik Miller, who each threw a scoreless inning. The Orioles did not score again.

Bradish (7-13) lasted four innings. Two hits, three unearned runs, four walks, three strikeouts, 85 pitches. The error is on Henderson. The homer is on the pitch after it. White finished 2-for-4 with the three RBI. Adley Rutschman doubled. Trevor Story singled. Boston had four hits as a club and won by two. That is a sweep game: take the extra out, cash it, and let the starter do the rest.

Chapman, 400, ninth in history

Chapman is 38. He earned his first save in 2011 with Cincinnati. He has 10 seasons with 30 or more saves, including 33 this year. Sunday he gave up a one-out single in the ninth, then struck out Mayo and Encarnacion-Strand. The Associated Press had him as the ninth pitcher to reach 400. Twenty-four of those saves have come against Baltimore. He got one Friday to start this sweep. He got the historic one Sunday to finish it.

I am not turning a 3-1 into a monument. I am saying the ninth inning had a number attached that does not come around often, and Chapman still had to throw the last six pitches with a man on. Mayo and Encarnacion-Strand were the right two names to get. They had been the entire Orioles offense in the first.

Boston is 79-65 and 33-17 since the All-Star break, a major-league-best mark the Associated Press cited. The Red Sox tightened their hold on the second AL wild-card slot. Patrick Sandoval is lined up for Monday against the Angels at Fenway. Four hits in Baltimore will not be the offensive plan for October. Twelve strikeouts from Tolle can be.

A six-game skid that is getting loud

Baltimore is 69-75. The Orioles closed August with four wins and reached .500 for the first time since April. They have lost six straight since. The Associated Press called it their longest skid since an eight-game slide last May, the one that got Brandon Hyde fired. They have fallen behind several clubs for the third wild card. Trevor Rogers starts Monday against Cleveland.

Henderson's error is the play that will follow this one around. He is the shortstop you want the ball hit to. Sunday it ate him, White made it 3-1, and Tolle never gave the lead back. Alonso and Mayo had the hits. The rest of the lineup struck out 17 times as a team. Boston's staff punched out 17 and walked nobody. That is the whole 3-1: one mistake, one homer, two starters who were not equally lucky.

The Orioles had two shutout losses before Sunday and still could not protect a first-inning lead. That is a club in a skid, not a club that got unlucky on one grounder. The grounder just made the math official.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine put Tolle at 28 pitching fantasy points, second on Sunday behind only Bryan Woo's 34. White led Boston bats at 9 hitting fantasy points. Chapman added 9 on the pitching card for the 400th save. The Red Sox team score was 8 fantasy points, which is what a 3-1 looks like when the offense has four hits. Fantasy points measure the lines. Price is what the market does next.

Boston swept Camden. Chapman has 400. Tolle had the 12 strikeouts that made the ninth possible.

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*Sources: ESPN box score; CBS Sports / AP recap; MLB.com schedule; AthX Engine daily fantasy points (September 6, 2026 game date). Information only; not financial advice.*