BOSTON — Instant reactions from the Red Sox’ 4-2 loss to Pittsburgh at Fenway Park:
1) By any measure except the final score, Payton Tolle’s major league debut was a rousing success. Tolle gave the Red Sox 5.1 innings and allowed two runs on three hits. But that doesn’t begin to tell the story of the rookie’s night. He fanned eight, walked two and blanked the Pirates with seeming ease over the first five innings. In the sixth, with one out, he allowed a soft liner to left and then a ground single through the hole and was lifted after that. He showed good command and there wasn’t a single hard-hit ball off him for his first major league start.
2) And then there was the other guy: Paul Skenes, who very much pitched to his reputation as an ace, limiting the Red Sox to a single earned