McCormick’s catch was the shimmering gem, and the picture might sooner or later develop into iconic in Houston. With the Astros clinging to a one-run lead and one out within the backside of the ninth (with tremendous Phillie Bryce Harper on deck), J.T. Realmuto, the hero of Game 1, drove a ball into the outfield. McCormick, who had vowed to himself to be aggressive, ran about 30 yards towards proper area, jumped on the base of the wall and prolonged his glove excessive over his head.
As he rose up like a basketball participant going for a dunk — his personal analogy — the ball descended towards his glove and disappeared as McCormick slammed into the scoreboard on the facet of the wall. He bounced off it and landed unfold eagle on his again on the warning observe, along with his glove on his proper hand up within the air.
The catch was apparent to anybody watching on tv, however for that on the spot, individuals within the stadium, lots of whom had been a whole lot of ft away from the motion, couldn’t inform if he had caught it. In that second, the stadium was at his command, and he liked it.
“ them, it form of like introduced me again once I was 10 years outdated, when the Phillies misplaced within the World Sequence 2009,” McCormick mentioned by way of his slight Philly accent, in a combination of sympathy and pleasure. “It was bizarre. It felt like a dream once I was laying there, taking a look at these followers.”
The play was particularly very important as a result of, had McCormick not made the catch, Realmuto, who had an inside-the-park house run in a division sequence in opposition to Atlanta, would have been on second base, at the very least, with Harper able to crush.
“It’s an unbelievable catch,” mentioned Nick Castellanos, the Phillies proper fielder who has had multiple defensive highlights of his own this postseason. “Additionally, his willingness to sacrifice his physique, as a result of that’s not precisely a mushy wall.”