Red Sox have already tied a franchise postseason record with 20 home runs

The Boston Red Sox continue to hit home runs in the postseason

A scheduled day off as the American League Championship Series shifted from Houston to Boston for Game 3 did nothing to stall the momentum of a surging Red Sox lineup. Boston’s bats greeted a capacity crowd at Fenway Park with an offensive outburst highlighted by four home runs in a 12-4 victory over the Astros.

The Red Sox have already tied their franchise record for the most home runs hit in a single postseason with 20, matching their total from the 2003 postseason. Keep in mind, we still have at least two more games in this ALCS and potentially another series to follow where the Red Sox can pad that total.

Their 20 home runs have also tied the 2004 Astros for the most by any MLB team through eight postseason games.

Kyle Schwarber broke the game open in the second inning with a massive 430-foot grand slam to right field. Boston hit only three grand slams during the regular season but they’ve equaled that total in their last two games. The 1998 Atlanta Braves are the only other team in MLB history with three grand slams in a single postseason. Boston smashed three of them in one series!

A two-run homer from Christian Arroyo extended Boston’s lead to 9-0 in the third inning. For the second consecutive game, the Red Sox held a 9-0 lead. While the Astros would attempt to rally by putting some crooked numbers on the board in each game, the early offensive fireworks from the Red Sox made the deficit seem nearly insurmountable.

The Astros weren’t able to take a step forward in this game without taking another step back. When Kyle Tucker’s three-run homer threatened to make the score somewhat interesting, Boston took those runs back with two more homers of their own.

J.D. Martinez sent a two-run shot deep to left field that was hit so hard that it clanged against the back row of the Monster seats and bounced all the way back into the field of play. His third home run of this postseason was the ninth of Martinez’s career on the playoff stage. He now has 30 RBI in 27 career postseason games. The only other player with 30+ RBI in their first 30 career postseason games is Lou Gehrig.

We can’t have a home run barrage that leaves Rafael Devers out of the action. The star third baseman smacked a solo shot to the opposite field that landed in the Monster seats in the bottom of the eighth inning. His seventh career postseason home run ties Devers for the fourth-most in MLB history by a player under 25 years old. Mickey Mantle, Albert Pujols and Carlos Correa all had eight postseason home runs by that age.

With 18 home runs in their last six games, the Red Sox have set a major league record for the most homers in any six-game span in the postseason. Boston has also set an MLB record with six consecutive postseason games with 10+ hits.

It seems we’re at the point where the Red Sox can’t play a game without setting a postseason record. Watching this team make history has been exciting but it will feel somewhat empty if their playoff run is history before they reach the ultimate goal of winning the World Series. The Red Sox are now six wins away from a championship with more milestones to potentially earn along the way.