Red Sox tied MLB record with six grand slams in April 2018

April 18

Boston kicked off a west coast trip with a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels. The series started with an epic three-home run game from Mookie Betts but the team’s next grand slam would be saved for the second game of the series.

There were two outs in the third inning when Rafael Devers stepped to the plate against Tyler Skaggs. The lefty hung a curve on a 1-2 count and Devers got just enough of it to sneak the ball over the right field wall.

This was notable not only for being the first grand slam of his career but it was also a rare homer against a lefty. Devers hit 21 home runs that season but only three were against a southpaw.

The Red Sox went on to win that game 9-0 and outscored the Angels 27-3 in the series.

April 20

The Red Sox lost their first series of the season when they went to Oakland but they did win the opener thanks to Mitch Moreland.

With the score knotted at three in the sixth, the A’s made a questionable call to the bullpen. Kendall Graveman was solid through five innings and sitting at only 92 pitches but he was given the hook after giving up three straight singles to begin the inning.

Pulling the starter as he was unraveling was a defensible decision but they ideally would have sent in a lefty to face Moreland considering his wide platoon splits. Instead, the A’s turned to right-hander Emilio Pagan, who allowed a strong .296 average to left-handed hitters that season.

It didn’t take long for Moreland to show them why they made a mistake. He crushed a first-pitch slider deep to right field for the game-winning grand slam.

Moreland spent the first seven years of his career in the AL West playing for the Texas Rangers and has always enjoyed hitting against the A’s. He has 15 career home runs in Oakland, the most he has tallied in any visiting ballpark.