It sounds like New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge will have extra motivation to blast more home runs the next time he sees the Toronto Blue Jays.
“I’m just trying to do my job,” Judge said following Thursday’s 4-2 victory in Toronto, per Max Goodman of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. “I was upset, but there’s nothing I can do about that. I’ve still got to go out there and play.”
Judge, of course, was referencing the controversy that first arose Monday when the Blue Jays’ announcing crew noticed the reigning American League Most Valuable Player glanced toward either the dugout or first base coach Travis Chapman during an at-bat.
Zac Al-Khateeb of Sporting News mentioned that the Blue Jays reached out to MLB to determine if Judge and/or the Yankees violated any rules, but that request ultimately went nowhere before Toronto right-hander Jay Jackson admitted to tipping his pitches while he faced Judge.
Judge later revealed he had some “choice words” for the Toronto announcers, and one Sportsnet analyst publicly said the Blue Jays should’ve sent the 31-year-old “a message” during a subsequent plate appearance. Instead, Judge hit .429 with four homers and seven RBI across the four games in Toronto, three of which the Yankees won.
“We were focused on what we can control between the lines,” Judge said about issues such as sign-stealing accusations, arguments between coaches and ejections. “We did a pretty good job blocking out all the noise and distraction the whole series. We just went out there and took care of business.”
It makes sense the captain wanted to focus mostly on the tasks at hand. Despite the victories, the 26-20 Yankees remain in fourth place in the AL East standings and began Friday trailing the first-place Tampa Bay Rays by six-and-a-half games.
For those looking for more fireworks between Toronto and New York, those clubs won’t face each other again until September.
