Xander Bogaerts led the Red Sox to victory with a grand performance
Xander Bogaerts sat out the previous two games while dealing with back tightness but he proved the ailment is behind him by carrying the Boston Red Sox offense on his back in a win over the Tamp Bay Rays.
Bogaerts stepped to the plate with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning and the bases loaded. Rays lefty reliever Colin Poché threw a pair of curveballs, the second of which hung over the plate for Bogaerts to devour. Bogaerts fired a rocket through the misty sky at Fenway Park that soared over the Green Monster for a grand slam that sealed Boston’s victory in a rain-shortened contest.
NOW THAT'S JUST GRAND. pic.twitter.com/PUGMdBbw1X
— Red Sox (@RedSox) October 5, 2022
The four insurance runs turned out to be unnecessary considering the Red Sox held a one-run lead entering the fifth inning and the game was called at the end of the frame following a delay of nearly an hour as the rain intensified.
That doesn’t mean the grand slam didn’t matter. It mattered to Bogaerts from a historical perspective.
This was the seventh grand slam of his career. According to J.P. Long of Sox Notes, Bogaerts is the 12th player in franchise history with as many seven grand slams as a member of the Red Sox. The only Red Sox ahead of him on the list are Ted Williams (17), David Ortiz (10), Rico Petrocelli (9), Bobby Doerr (8), Trot Nixon (8), and Jim Rice (8).
Bogaerts has the most grand slams in franchise history by a shortstop. He pulled ahead of Nomar Garciaparra and Vern Stephens when he hit his sixth career grand slam in August. Petrocelli is ahead of Xander on the list but Rico tallied about half of his grand slams as a third baseman.
Bogaerts now has 156 career home runs, which ranks 16th in franchise history. Petrocelli (210) and Garciaparra (178) are the only players whose primary position was shortstop to hit more career home runs in a Red Sox uniform.
Earlier this season, Bogaerts became only the 25th player in MLB history to collect 300+ doubles and 150+ home runs before the age of 30. He joined Carl Yastrzemski as the only Red Sox players on the list and Alex Rodriguez is the only other shortstop.
This has been another excellent year for Bogaerts, who leads all major league shortstops with a .305 batting average and ranks second at the position with a .831 OPS, but it’s been a bit of a down season in the power department. Last night’s grand slam was only the 15th home run of the season for Bogaerts. He will undoubtedly finish with his lowest home run total since 2017 when he tallied only ten, excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season when he hit 11 homers. His .455 SLG and .150 ISO are also his lowest since 2017.
Tuesday’s mammoth grand slam served as a reminder that Xander still has plenty of pop in his bat. He remains among the elite shortstops in the game today and in franchise history.
Bogaerts has achieved many impressive milestones throughout his career with the Red Sox. With an opt-out decision looming this offseason, fans are anxiously waiting to find out if we’ve seen the last of the star shortstop in Boston or if he’ll remain with the team to pile up more franchise milestones.