7 amazing stats from Boston's Game 3 romp

The Red Sox offense continued to produce in a big way in Game 3 at Fenway Park, as Boston won, 12-3. With Kiké Hernández’s mounting October stat line, plus the rest of the lineup getting in on the action, there are so many crazy facts to parse through.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora picked up his 17th postseason win in 22 games at the helm, the most by any manager in his first 22 games in the playoffs. And it happened on his birthday, no less, making him the second manager in history with two postseason birthday wins, along with Tony La Russa.

Here are seven amazing stats from the Red Sox victory in Game 3.

1. It was another fast start for the Red Sox, even despite going down 1-2-3 in the first inning. The piling on began in the second, capped by Kyle Schwarber's grand slam to make it 6-0. In the third, they added another three runs, including Christian Arroyo's homer, to make it 9-0. The Red Sox are now hitting .405 and slugging .750 in the first three innings of games this postseason. Those marks are both on pace to smash the first-three-innings records for a single postseason (minimum four games), which are a .377 batting average (2007 Red Sox) and a .646 slugging percentage (1989 Cubs).

2. Speaking of that Schwarber grand slam, it was the third by the Red Sox this series -- all in the last two games. Two days after becoming the first team in postseason history with multiple grand slams in a game, they became the first team in postseason history with three grand slams in a series. The only other team with three grand slams in an entire postseason is the 1998 Braves. And Boston has done it in a two-game span.

3. Those three grand slams are a bit of a magic number for the Red Sox for another reason: They tie their total from the regular season. Boston is the seventh team to hit as many postseason grand slams as regular-season grand slams in a season (excluding the shortened 2020 season). None of those teams hit more postseason grand slams than regular-season ones, but the '21 Red Sox aren’t done yet, either.

• Sox make history with third slam of ALCS

4. The Red Sox became just the fourth team to hit grand slams in consecutive games in the postseason. They joined the 2020 Yankees, in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series and Game 1 of the AL Division Series; the D-backs in Games 3 and 4 of the '11 National League Division Series; and the Dodgers in Games 1 and 2 of the 1977 NLCS. No team has done it in three straight.

5. It isn’t just about grand slams, though. The Red Sox hit four homers in Game 3, pushing their total this postseason to 20. That’s tied with the 2004 Red Sox for the most by a team through the first eight games of a single postseason. It’s also tied for the most in franchise history in a single postseason, with Boston's '03 run.

6. Boston finished with 11 hits on the night, marking its sixth straight game in double figures in the hit column. That’s the longest streak by any team in a single postseason, breaking a tie at five with the 2004 Astros, ‘02 Angels and 1989 Cubs.

7. Here’s your daily Kiké Hernández update. With two hits on Monday, he’s up to 17 in his last six games. That is, you guessed it, a record for hits in a six-game span in postseason history. The record had been 16, by the White Sox Tim Anderson across the 2020-21 postseasons.