MINNEAPOLIS — Nothing great ever comes out of a loss, and that goes double when a team is beaten by the moribund Twins.
Yet, it was hard to ignore a sign Brian McCann might be on the edge of escaping a long slump Sunday, when he launched two home runs in a 7-4 Yankees’ defeat at Target Field.
“Instead of hitting weak ground balls to the second baseman, I was able to drive it,” McCann said of the towering home runs he hit in the second and ninth innings. “I was swinging at good pitches, but when I hit the baseball, I wasn’t getting through it and cutting my swing off. Today was a good day.”
It followed a string of bad days since McCann entered Sunday in an 11-for-81 (.136) slump and hitless in 15 previous at-bats when he homered against Ervin Santana. The ball hit the façade of the second deck in center and was measured at 439 feet. McCann led off the ninth with a soaring drive to right. It was McCann’s first multi-homer game of the season and the 12th of his career.
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With Mark Teixeira possibly coming back from the disabled list Saturday and Carlos Beltran hitting well, it would be a big plus if McCann can build off of Sunday and add muscle to the lineup.
“I hope so. I’ve been grinding for some time now and haven’t been getting results,” said McCann, who is hitting .219 with 10 homers and 29 RBIs. “It was nice to put the barrel on some balls today. If I’m going to hit in the middle of the order, I have to hit.”