Payton Tolle’s future children and grandchildren are going to hear about the time he beat Hall of Famer Max Scherzer on a sunny Thursday at Rogers Centre when he was still a rookie.
“Oh, yeah,” the big galoot said after his eight-inning masterpiece. “Plenty.”
It’ll be a good story, too. On a day the Red Sox were desperate to snap a five-game losing streak and rest their battered bullpen, Tolle pitched his best game of the season in a 7-0 victory and retired the final 17 batters he faced.
Scherzer allowed only one run over five innings but was denied his 223rd regular-season victory. He had to settle for joining Justin Verlander as the only active pitchers with at least 3,000 innings.
At 23, those are milestones Tolle can only dream of. But Thursday offered a tantalizing glimpse of what he’s capable of achieving.
Read more from Peter Abraham at BostonGlobe.com/Sports. | 
