Things got tense Sunday between the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays after Aaron Judge was hit by a pitch in the fifth inning.
Judge was hit by Toronto pitcher Alek Manoah with a runner on second and one out in the fifth, and the Yankees outfielder appeared to take exception to the plunking. Judge seemed to believe there was intent behind the pitch and traded words with Manoah as he made his way to first base.
Even angrier than Judge, however, was Yankees starter Gerrit Cole, who looked like he was ready to go after Manoah over the pitch. Judge actually waved him off while heading to first, trying to defuse the situation.
Aaron Judge had words for Alek Manoah and Gerrit Cole was quick to come out of the dugout pic.twitter.com/KnUDe0gjMh
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) August 21, 2022
Ultimately, nothing else really came of the situation, but Cole was certainly heated. Judge and Manoah spoke briefly as players milled around on the edge of the field, and that seemed to put the issue to rest.
This is probably reflective of the frustration the Yankees have been feeling lately. The team came into Sunday’s game with a league-worst 4-14 record in the month of August. That frustration manifested itself in manager Aaron Boone’s postgame press conference Saturday as well.
This hardly counts as a bench-clearing incident, but perhaps a bit of a jolt is what the Yankees need. Maybe Cole even felt the same way and wanted to fire up the team as much as anything else.
