Carlos Correa is one of many young and charismatic players participating in the World Series this year. Several emotions came to the surface Wednesday night as the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers played a thriller of a Game 2.
The teams combined for eight home runs, which set an MLB record for most hit in a World Series game. Joc Pederson’s game-tying solo home run in the fifth inning marked the start of the Home Run Derby.
Pederson thrust his arms out and yelled in excitement as he rounded the bases. Corey Seager let out a scream upon making contact on his go-ahead, two-run home run in the sixth inning.
Astros’ Marwin Gonzalez and Jose Altuve were a bit more subdued upon hitting their home runs in the ninth and 10th innings, respectively.
Altuve’s came off Josh Fields and gave Houston a lead. Two pitches later, Correa made it back-to-back home runs. Right before the young shortstop broke into his home run trot, he flung his bat in such a manner it rivaled Jose Bautista’s bat flip in Game 5 of the 2015 American League Division Series.
From the Dodgers perspective, that’s an area Yasiel Puig is well-versed in. Naturally, Puig was understanding and enjoyed what he saw from Correa, per Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com:
“I loved it,” Puig said. “It was a little bit higher than the bat flips I normally do, but he was happy and that’s the way you should play in the World Series. When he got the home run, it was a moment for him to be happy. I’m glad that he was able to celebrate that way.”
In addition to flipping his bat, Correa also stuck his tongue out, just as Puig has taken to doing during the postseason. So too did Altuve when he hit his homer in the 10th.
Correa did the Puig tongue after his bat flip. pic.twitter.com/waLyc6HMti
— Ryan Walton (@RyanWaltonSBN) October 26, 2017
Not all celebrations were welcome, however, as Dallas Keuchel criticized Charlie Culberson for his reaction upon slugging a solo homer that pulled the Dodgers to within a run of the Astros with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning.
While the matter is largely much ado about nothing, there is further reason to watch reactions and celebrations during the remainder of the World Series.
