The jubilation and pain of baseball were on display in Clint Frazier and Pedro Severino's homer reactions
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In baseball, one team's pleasure is almost always another team's pain. This was evident in Yasiel Puig's incredible showdown with Eduardo Rodriguez in Game 4 of the 2018 World Series, and we saw another example of this contrast during the Yankees' 6-4 win over the Orioles on Saturday.
Emotions were high at Camden Yards after the Orioles came from behind in the bottom of the seventh to erase the deficit and move ahead, 4-3. Baltimore had gotten to the Yankees' vaunted bullpen and scored the go-ahead run off Adam Ottavino.
With two outs and two on in the top of the eighth, Miguel Castro faced Clint Frazier, who battled concussions last season and hadn't gone deep since July 28, 2017. The Yankees seemingly whiffed at a chance for momentum when Gleyber Torres hesitated at third base on a pitch that got away from catcher Pedro Severino. He didn't score the tying run and Frazier remained at-bat. Another strike would end the inning.
Then, a slider that was meant to be down and away sailed toward the middle of the plate. Frazier unloaded, and the subsequent reactions creating an incredible GIF:
While Frazier got to coolly flick his bat toward the ground in triumph, Severino could only rip his mask off in disgust. With one swing of the bat, everything changed and the Yankees went on to win, 6-4.
It's an understandable human emotion for Severino to be so charged. No, it might seem like an April matchup couldn't mean that much, but think about it from the Orioles' perspective.
They just lost a franchise record 115 games. They have a young team, a brand-new manager and a front office who are all excited to flip the script. Very few outlets predicted them to finish anywhere other than dead last in the American League East entering 2019. This was a chance to build off their Opening Weekend series victory against these very same Yankees and to defy the critics' expectations of them yet again!
Instead, it's just another loss -- at home, no less. The fan reaction was no less disappointed.
There's always tomorrow.