Red Sox tied MLB record with six grand slams in April 2018
By Sean Penney
Grand slams didn’t stop in April
A power drought was one of the themes of the 2017 season for the Red Sox. After finishing a respectable ninth in the majors in home runs during David Ortiz‘s farewell tour, Boston fell to a pathetic 27th in 2017.
Watching this power-starved lineup bow out in the first round of the postseason convinced the Red Sox to shell out a lucrative free-agent deal to Martinez to give them a legitimate home run threat to anchor the lineup. The move paid off in spades with the return of a dominant Red Sox lineup. The upgrade was evident early with their April home run barrage.
After failing to hit a grand slam in the previous season, Boston bashed 10 grand slams in 2018 to fall one shy of the franchise record. Jackie Bradley Jr. would add another in the postseason to put away Game 3 of the ALCS against the Houston Astros.
Perhaps the most memorable grand slam of the season was Mookie Betts’ epic 13-pitch at-bat against Blue Jays tarter J.A. Happ.
Happ would also serve up the 10th and final grand slam of the regular season to Steve Pearce. The pair had started the season as teammates in Toronto but by September, Pearce had been traded to the Red Sox and Happ was a Yankee. Four of Boston’s grand slams were against the Yankees, the most the Red Sox have ever recorded in a season against their greatest rival.
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There are many aspects that went into making 2018 one of the most memorable in Red Sox history but the parade of grand slams during their historic April can’t go overlooked.