BOSTON (AP) — Kyle Schwarber hit Boston's third grand slam in two games, a drive off José Urquidy in a six-run second, and the Red Sox took a 9-0 lead after three innings against the Houston Astros in Game 3 of the AL Championship Series on Monday night.
Boston, seeking to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, joined the 1998 Atlanta Braves as the only teams with three slams in a postseason — and the first with three in a series.
Schwarber drove a fastball to right on a 3-0 count for 6-0 lead.
In Game 2 at Houston, the Red Sox became the first team with two slams in a postseason game after J.D. Martinez connected in the first inning and Rafael Devers in the second of 9-5 win.
The Red Sox became the fourth team with slams in consecutive postseason games after the 1977 Los Angeles Dodgers in the first two games of the NL Championship Series, Arizona in Games 3 and 4 of the NL Division Series and the New York Yankees in the final game of last year’s AL Wild Card Series and opener of the AL Division Series.
Boston had just three grand slams during the regular season.
The Red Sox had taken a 2-0 lead on Christian Vázquez's RBI single and Christian Arroyo's run-scoring grounder on a high-hop grounder that went off the chest of chest of second baseman Jose Altuve for an error.
After the slam, Urquidy gave singles to Kiké Hernandez and Xander Bogaerts, then was replaced by Yimi García.
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