Sox slam ’Stros again
Blast 4 HRs, E-Rod six solid innings
Eduardo Rodriguez walked off the mound as he retired Carlos Correa for the final out of the sixth inning and pointed to his wrist.
Three nights after Correa declared it his time as he lifted the Astros to a Game 1 victory, the tables have turned in this American League Championship Series.
It’s the Red Sox’ time right now.
And with a Game 3 victory on Monday night at an electric Fenway Park, they’re in full control. Fueled by six outstanding innings from Rodriguez, backed by a sixrun second-inning outburst that included yet another grand slam, the Red Sox don’t look like they plan on letting up any time soon after their 12-3 victory gave them a 2-1 series lead in the best-of-seven ALCS, with games at Fenway tonight and Wednesday.
And here’s this: In ALCS history, the series has been tied 24 times. The winner of Game 3 has gone on to the World Series in 18 of the previous 23 (78%) occasions.
Two days after a pair of unprecedented grand slams helped them to a decisive Game 2 win, the Red Sox’ bats stayed hot on a cold October night at Fenway.
After a quiet first, the Red Sox returned to their regularly scheduled programming in the second. They sent 11 batters to the plate as they put yet another hurting on an Astros starter, sending Jose Urquidy to the showers after he recorded just five outs.
One at-bat seemed to create a domino effect for the Red Sox’ explosive inning. With one out in the inning, Alex Verdugo fell behind Urquidy 0-2, but battled back to earn an 11-pitch walk.
Then, as Alex Cora likes to say, the line kept moving … and moving … and moving.
J.D. Martinez doubled off the wall, Hunter Renfroe walked and Christian Vazquez struck first with an RBI single. Then, they got a little help from the Astros. Christian Arroyo hit a sharp grounder to second base, but Jose Altuve booted the ball — much to the delight of the sold out Fenway crowd — and everyone was safe.
And then the floodgates opened. Kyle Schwarber made Altuve pay, getting ahead on Urquidy on a 3-0 count before demolishing a fastball into the right-field grandstand for the grand slam. There was no doubt as the ball traveled 430 feet, sending the Fenway crowd into complete pandemonium.
The Red Sox made more history with the slam. A game after becoming the first team in postseason history to hit two grand slams in one game, Schwarber’s blast made the Red Sox the first team ever to hit three grand slams in one playoff series.
Astros manager Dusty Baker, after Xander Bogaerts singled to become the eighth Red Sox to reach in the inning, mercifully pulled Urquidy after 1 2/3 innings as the Astros’ pitching woes continued. In three games to start the series, their starters have combined to go just 5 1/3 innings.
And the Red Sox weren’t done going yard, either. Christian Arroyo hit a tworun blast in the third for his first career postseason homer and first since July 16, J.D. Martinez hit a two-run shot in the sixth and Devers went deep in the eighth for good measure. The Red Sox now have 20 homers this postseason, matching the 2003 team for the most in club history.
Rodriguez, meanwhile, was dominant on the mound in one of the best starts of his career. He threw a 96 mph fastball in the first — the hardest pitch he’s thrown all season — and never slowed down. He allowed a three-run homer to Kyle Tucker in the fourth, but bounced back with 1-2-3 innings in both the fifth and sixth to complete a massive performance, resting the bullpen further and allowing Nick Pivetta to start tonight’s Game 4.
Rodriguez has now delivered two of the best starts of his career in back-to-back outings after leading the Red Sox to an ALDS-clinching victory last Monday. He struck out seven Monday night in a rare postseason quality start, setting the Sox up for what could be a huge week.