‘I Have the Ball, I’m in Control’: An Outfielder’s Catch Saves the Astros

PHILADELPHIA — There is a moment that often occurs when an outfielder in baseball makes a sensational diving, leaping or acrobatic catch, and the entire stadium goes quiet trying to discern where the ball actually went.

The silence might only last a heartbeat, but during that brief time only the fielder knows for certain.

When that player is originally from the city where he made the catch, and he understands the singular passion of the fans in the stands — because he was once one of them — it is a unique moment of power.

“I have the ball, I’m in control,” Chas McCormick, explained. “It’s just how quiet the stadium was. It was one of the best feelings ever.”

McCormick is the center fielder for the Astros, but he grew up 30 miles away from Citizens Bank Park, in West Chester, Pa. His extended family adores the Phillies, to the extent that he has a nephew named Rolen, in honor of Scott Rolen, the star third baseman of the Phillies in the late 1990s.

Faced with a pivotal moment late in Thursday’s game, McCormick understood what it would have meant to the sellout crowd at his former local ballpark had he failed to make the catch. But the sure-handed McCormick made the play, delivering one of Houston’s two critical defensive highlights — the other was a run-saving play by the team’s backup first baseman, Trey Mancini, in the eighth — that helped the Astros preserve a pivotal 3-2 victory in Game 5 of the World Series on Thursday.

On a team where stars like Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Justin Verlander and Yordan Alvarez are often the heroes, it was two of the more unheralded players on the roster who may have saved Houston’s season.

“Unbelievable defense all around,” said Bregman, the team’s star third baseman. “The guys take a lot of pride in their defense, and it paid off today.”

McCormick’s catch was the gem, and the image may one day become iconic in Houston. With the Astros clinging to a one-run lead and one out in the bottom of the ninth (with super 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 toward right field, jumped at the base of the wall and extended his glove high over his head.

As he rose up like a basketball player going for a dunk — his own analogy — the ball descended toward his glove and disappeared as McCormick slammed into the scoreboard on the side of the wall. He bounced off it and landed spread eagle on his back on the warning track, with his glove on his right hand up in the air.

The catch was clear to anyone watching on television, but for that instant, people in the stadium, many of whom were hundreds of feet away from the action, could not tell if he had caught it. In that moment, the stadium was stunned into silence, and he loved it.

“Looking at them, it kind of like brought me back when I was 10 years old, when the Phillies lost in the World Series 2009,” McCormick said through his slight Philly accent, in a mixture of sympathy and joy. “It was weird. It felt like a dream when I was laying there, looking at those fans.”

The play was especially vital because, had McCormick not made the catch, Realmuto, who had an inside-the-park home run in a division series against Atlanta, would have been on second base, at least, with Harper ready to crush.

“It’s an incredible catch,” said Nick Castellanos, the Phillies right fielder who has had multiple defensive highlights of his own this postseason. “Also, his willingness to sacrifice his body, because that’s not exactly a soft wall.”

Mancini’s play had even more urgency to it because the Phillies had runners on first and third and two outs in the eighth, also trailing by a run. Kyle Schwarber, who had homered in the first inning, rocketed a ball down the first base line, directly over the base. If it had whizzed past Mancini, the Phillies would have tied the game and perhaps taken the lead.

But Mancini, who had not played in the field since Oct. 5, smothered the ball on a short hop, stepping on the base for the final out of the inning. Asked what he was thinking on the play, Mancini said there was only time to react.

“I had nothing going through my head,” he said. “I just tackled it, basically.”

Acquired in a trade from Baltimore on Aug. 1, Mancini has struggled in his brief time with the Astros. He batted only .176 in 51 games in the regular season and is 0 for 19 in the postseason, with four strikeouts, including one in his only at-bat Thursday.

He only entered the game as a pinch hitter in the eighth after Yuli Gurriel, the starting first baseman, twisted his knee while avoiding Rhys Hoskins in a rundown in the seventh. Gurriel was limping in the clubhouse after the game and was uncertain whether he can play in Game 6 on Saturday.

Hoskins, meanwhile, was unable to make a similar defensive play in the eighth, which enabled the Astros to score their critically important third run. Mancini and McCormick held on to their opportunities, and the silence that followed both plays created perfect harmony for Houston.

Tyler Kepner, James Wagner and Ben Shpigel contributed reporting.