McCann, still getting dollars from Yanks, picks up Houston
HOUSTON — Brian McCann beat the Yankees Saturday night and they paid for it — or part of it. The catcher doubled in two runs in the fifth inning of the Astros 4-0 win over the Yankees in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, beating the team that sent him to Houston and picked up part of his salary just to make room for Gary Sanchez.
McCann’s line drive to right field Saturday night was just the final dagger through the heart of his old team. He’d already killed their momentum with a defensive play at the plate earlier in Game 7 and been the man who rallied them from the brink of elimination.
And the Yankees paid $5.5 million of McCann’s salary this season only to have him finish their season a step short of the Fall Classic.
McCann waived his no-trade last November so the Yankees could deal him to Houston, seeking payroll relief and increased playing time for the young Sanchez. It was a chance for McCann to not only get more playing time, but for the Astros to get a veteran catcher to anchor what was then Dallas Keuchel and a shaky staff. He was a welcome addition to the Astros. “The way this team grew together from the beginning of Spring Training with the additions of McCann and (Josh) Reddick and Charlie Morton, and obviously through the trade of (Justin) Verlander and (Cameron) Maybin,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “We’ve got a good thing going because we have one common goal, we have one common standard, and that’s to be your best every day.”
It was the right move for McCann and the building Baby Bombers, but these last two games it certainly came back to bite them a bit.
Saturday night, McCann not only drove in two runs with his fifth-inning double, but he made the play in the top of that inning that seemed to kill any momentum the Yankees had.
With Greg Bird on third in the top of that inning, Alex Bregman charged Todd Frazier’s chopper and fired a strike to McCann. The 33-year old had to drop into the lane with the lumbering Yankee first baseman bearing down on him. He caught the ball, held his tag even as Bird slid right into him, spiking his arm.
Friday night, with the Astros down 3-1 in the best-of-seven game series, McCann was the unlikely hero. He had not had a hit in the first five games of the ALCS, but with two on and one out in the bottom of the fifth, he laced a double into right field, which bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double.
It not only broke open a drought for McCann, but snapped the scoreless tie and a 15-inning scoreless streak for the Astros.
But perhaps McCann’s biggest contributions to this series was the talk he and Carlos Beltran gave the team after losing three straight in New York. After Game 5, the veterans closed the doors and told their younger teammates the season wasn’t over.
“We just reminded them we’ve done this before, we can do it again,” McCann said at the time. “This team has been through tough times and we’ve come through them. We can do it again.”