McCann busts out of extended slump

HOUSTON — Brian McCann finally made his presence felt against his former team.

The former Yankees catcher looked overmatched for much of the ALCS, including in his first at-bat against Luis Severino in Game 6 on Friday night.

But with the Astros desperately looking for a hit to break through against the right-hander and keep their season alive, McCann came up with a ground-rule double in the fifth that gave the Astros the lead in a 7-1 victory over the Yankees to force a Game 7 on Saturday at Minute Maid Park.

McCann, mired in a 2-for-44 slump, had been 0-for-11 in the series and seemed like just the person the Yankees wanted at the plate with Severino in trouble for the first time.

Severino, who didn’t give up a hit until a Carlos Correa single to right-center field with two outs in the fourth, was locked in a pitchers’ duel with Justin Verlander.

But he quickly ran into trouble an inning later.

Severino issued a leadoff walk to Alex Bregman. A groundout by Marwin Gonzalez moved Bregman to second. Severino then walked Evan Gattis on four pitches to bring up the struggling McCann.

McCann fell behind 0-2 before evening the count at 2-2.

Then he drilled a 98-mph fourseamer into right, and it bounced into the seats for an RBI double to give the Astros the lead.

“I’ve been getting pitched tough all series and I got a pitch out over the plate and was able to put a really good swing on it,’’ McCann said. “We needed it. We were just waiting for one big hit, and I think that was it. ...

“It feels good to perform. It’s never good not to come through. We gained some momentum.”