Morning Mound Visit: Red Sox pound Astros, go up 2-1 in ALCS

Matt Collins | Over the Monster: Game 3 of the ALCS belonged to the Boston Red Sox. Kyle Schwarber hit the team’s third grand slam in two days. Eduardo Rodríguez threw six innings and gave up three runs on Kyle Tucker’s homer. Meanwhile, without Lance McCullers Jr., Houston starters have a 20.25 ERA in the first three games.

Jay Jaffe | FanGraphs: Starters are throwing fewer innings in the regular season, so it’s no surprise that starters are also throwing fewer innings in the postseason. Especially since Boston keeps running starters out of games. But in the playoffs, starters are throwing a lesser percentage of the game than they would otherwise.

Rob Mains | Baseball Prospectus $: For my money, Baseball Prospectus’s PECOTA is the best projection system there is, but it’s not perfect. It missed the mark on a handful of teams this year from the Giants to the Twins, if only because there’s always going to be at least one team slipping through the cracks.

Quick Hits

Kyle Schwarber delivered the killing blow in the second inning.

Christian Arroyo hit his first postseason homer.

Hunter Renfroe made a sliding catch to end the game.