The Boston Red Sox led 2-1 in the American League Championship Series on Monday evening with a dominant 12-3 win over the Houston Astros at Fenway Park. The blueprint was similar to Game 2 with a grand slam and a huge early lead. Let’s take a closer look at ALCS Game 3 with five takeaways.
1. Altuve mistake clears the way for the Schwarber Slam
With an out and the bases loaded in the second inning, Christian Arroyo of Red Sox, second baseman, sent a hard grounder straight to Astro’s second baseman Jose Altuve. If Altuve had brought the ball cleanly on the field, it was very likely a double game with an inning end. The Red Sox would certainly have had the lead, but it would only have been 1-0. Instead, the 105 mph grounder came because of an error by Altuve. The next dough was Kyle Schwarber and, well …
Schwarber’s Grand Slam gave the Red Sox three in their last two games and they were the first team in playoff history to reach a trio of Grand Slams in a playoff series. The full story of the Red Sox’s great six-run second inning: Click here.
2. It wasn’t just the Grand Slam
The Astros offensive is good enough to come back after six runs, especially since it was only the third inning, so it would always be appropriate for the opponent to turn further. That’s exactly what the Red Sox did in the third inning. Hunter Renfroe took a step, stole second, came in third as the throw passed Altuve second and then scored with a flat pop-up to left field (the Astros infield was pulled in, otherwise it will likely catch shortstop Carlos Correa). The next batter was arroyo.
Even with six innings of bats remaining, a 9-0 deficit is just way too much, even for the Astros. That explosion completely sealed the Red Sox.
Notable: JD Martinez hit a double homer in the sixth run and Rafael Devers hit a solo shot over the Green Monster in the eighth to give the BoSox four for the game.
In the regular season, the Red Sox took sixth place in the AL at home runs. During the playoffs, they became one of the greatest power machines we’ve ever seen. They met two homers in the AL Wild Card Game. They beat nine homers in four games in the ALDS against a Rays pitching agent who led the AL in ERA. Now they have met nine homers in three ALCS games, including three Grand Slams. It’s just a demolition crew at the moment.
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3. Kiké is still ridiculous
After hitting .250 in the regular season and previously averaging .213 in the playoffs, Enrique Hernández is still insane right now. He was actually 1 to 7 in the ALDS Wild Card Game and Game 1, but – after a night of two hits in Game 3 – he’s now 17 to 29 with four doubles and five homers in the last six games. The Red Sox are also 5: 1 in these games.
To carry the above point piggyback on the Red Sox Offensive, it’s not just the home runs. You have now collected at least 10 hits in six games in a row. This is the longest such streak in a single postseason in MLB history (via Sarah Langs from MLB.com). So it really is not an exaggeration to say that they are putting together a historic offensive playoff run.
4. Contrast when pitching
Both teams went into the series with big question marks in the rotation. The Astros really needed José Urquidy to win that one gap, but instead he failed to make it out of the second inning. He gave up six runs (five deserved) in 1 2/3 innings, forcing Dusty Baker to go deep into his bullpen one more time. Games 3 through 5 in this series do not have a day off, so Urquidy’s bad game – and again Altuve’s mistake – could prove costly beyond Game 3.
On the other hand, Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodríguez made things a lot easier for his manager. He was able to get through six innings of quality work. There was a triple homer from Kyle Tucker, but overall it was an outing that helped his team a lot in saving the best bullpen pitchers while taking a 2-1 lead. He did well in Game 4 against the Rays and his material and speed were both the best they have been all season. He crossed seven and didn’t go for a walk with anyone. We’ve probably seen enough to believe the Red Sox can count on him to move forward after an overall uneven and mostly poor regular season.
5. What’s next?
The Astros are likely in must-win territory for their fourth game on Tuesday night as it would be terribly difficult to rip off three straight wins over the Red Sox with the way they are beating. They’ll start Zack Greinke and hope he can do three or four innings and then put things together with the bullpen. The Red Sox send Nick Pivetta up the hill. He was very valuable in both of his relief appearances in the ALDS, posting a 3.12 ERA in 8 2/3 innings. He didn’t turn to this streak, so he’ll be able to empty the proverbial tank.
In MLB history in a seven-game series, the team that won Game 3 to take a 2-1 lead won the series 63 percent of the time. All teams with a 2-1 lead in the series won the series a little more than 70 percent of the time.
