Red Sox bury Astros with 2 grand slams in ALCS Game 2

Red Sox strike early with a pair of grand slams in Game 2

We witnessed a rare event when the Boston Red Sox failed to hang on to a multi-run postseason lead in Game 1 of the ALCS. They responded with a greater rarity to ensure there would be no comeback in Game 2, burying the Houston Astros early with a pair of grand slams.

Kyle Schwarber led off the game with a double to deep right field. The Red Sox loaded the bases by drawing a couple of walks between a line out to center and a strikeout, bringing J.D. Martinez to the plate with two outs. The veteran designated hitter watched a cutter drift outside before hammering a 93 mph four-seam fastball from Luis Garcia 363 feet into the right field stands for a grand slam.

The Astros pulled their starter with an apparent injury after Garcia walked Kevin Plawecki to open the second inning. A pair of singles sandwiched around a strikeout allowed Rafael Devers to step to the plate with the bases juiced. The Astros have attacked Devers almost exclusively with fastballs since these teams met in the regular season but a cutter from Jake Odorizzi wasn’t going to cut it. Devers smashed the pitch 357 feet down the right field line, sneaking the ball by the foul pole for another grand slam.

The Red Sox are the first team in MLB history with multiple grand slams in a postseason game.

Not only did Boston hit two grand slams in the game, they hit both within the first two innings. Obviously, that had never been done before in a postseason game but it has only happened five times in the regular season.

May 2, 2021 – Dodgers
August 7, 1984 – Red Sox
April 12, 19080 – Brewers
July 18, 1962 – Twins
May 9, 1961 – Orioles

The last time that the Red Sox hit two grand slams in a regular season game was May 22, 2008 against the Kansas City Royals. J.D. Drew hit one in the second inning and Mike Lowell added another in the sixth.

The grand slam from Devers gave him 24 career postseason RBI, tying an MLB record with Houston’s Carlos Correa for the most postseason RBI before the age of 25. Devers will turn 25 years old on October 24, leaving ample opportunity for him to secure that record to himself. Correa is now 27 years old and next on the list is Albert Pujols, who is… slightly older.

Boston piled up eight early runs but would only score once more in Game 2. Enrique Hernandez tacked on a run with a solo shot in the fourth inning, giving him five playoff homers this year to tie a franchise record for home runs in a single postseason.

The offense finally calmed down after that but the Red Sox had put up plenty of runs to put this game away. Houston attempted a rally with two solo home runs in the 9th inning to make it a 9-5 game but the Red Sox still cruised to a victory that evened the series.

The confidence level of the Red Sox should be sky high after splitting the two games in Houston with the series shifting to Fenway Park. The way this team is rolling, nobody should be counting them out with a trip to the World Series on the line.