HOUSTON -- It takes a lot to get stoic Astros starting pitcher Cristian Javier to crack a smile. A leaping catch at the wall by center fielder Chas McCormick? Yep, that’ll do the trick.
Javier -- and the rest of the Astros -- were all smiles on Tuesday night, thanks to a four-run fourth inning, McCormick’s tremendous catch at the wall in the sixth and six frames of one-run ball from their starter in a 7-3 win over the Cubs at Minute Maid Park.
Houston won for the sixth time in the last seven games to improve to a season-high four games over .500 (23-19).
McCormick’s catch was the talk of the clubhouse postgame, a catch that brought back memories of his amazing grab in Game 5 of last year’s World Series in Philadelphia.
The stakes weren’t as high this time, but McCormick said his catch on Tuesday to rob Dansby Swanson of a hit was more difficult because he had to run farther and jump higher.
“I had to jump as high as I could and I feel like I fully extended,” McCormick said. “At the time, I didn’t think I caught it. I thought it hit off the wall and I fell down and looked at my glove, and I had it. Cool.”
Before we dive into McCormick’s catch on Tuesday, let’s rewind to last year’s Fall Classic at Citizens Bank Park.
With one out in the ninth inning and the Astros leading, 3-2, Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto hit a fly ball to right-center field that McCormick corralled with a leaping catch at the wall. He reached up with his right hand and squeezed it, falling to the ground and stunning the crowd.
Realmuto’s ball was hit at 102.4 mph off the bat and traveled a Statcast-projected 387 feet, but McCormick covered 92 feet to track it down.
With a runner at first base with one out in the sixth inning and the Astros leading, 5-1, against the Cubs, Swanson’s fly ball to left-center left the bat at 104.2 mph and traveled 384 feet. McCormick covered 126 feet before making a jump at the wall and catching the ball just before it hit the padding.
“It felt like the Game 5 World Series catch,” McCormick said. “I didn’t think I caught it [initially]. Going up to it, I didn't think I had a chance and it was going to hit off the wall. But you know, I had a weird feeling. Javier was throwing a lot of fastballs that at-bat and Swanson hits the fastball well.
“I was kind of shaded over to right-center and I was thinking he might drive the ball to left-center. That’s what he did, and I had a good jump on it.”
Javier, who held the Cubs to one run on two hits and two walks in six innings to improve to 4-1, tipped his hat to McCormick from the mound and flashed a huge smile. In the dugout, Javier hugged McCormick at the end of the outfielder’s high-five line.
“Tremendous play for me and for the team,” Javier said. “When he hit the ball, I didn’t think he got that much of it. I didn’t think it was going to get that close to the wall, but then I saw him jump and catch that ball. Tremendous play there.”
McCormick’s leaping ability may come from his basketball background. He was a 1,000-point scorer at West Chester Henderson High School in Pennsylvania and he still fancies himself as the best hooper on the team -- a fact not lost on manager Dusty Baker.
“He was like, ‘Mac, you got hops,’” said McCormick, who went 2-for-4 with one of Houston’s season-high six doubles. “I said, ‘Yeah, I used to ball.’ It was funny because he said, ‘Good catch, but get the ball in!’”
That’s right. Baker thought McCormick had a chance to double off Nick Madrigal at first base, but that really didn’t diminish the magnitude of the catch.
“It’s great,” Baker said. “Like I told him, just get the ball in sooner and we might have a double play. That was a heck of a catch and he’s been telling us for two years how good a basketball player he was. ... That was a great indicator of playing other sports and how it comes in handy.”