Aaron Judge is no stranger to capturing the attention of the baseball world, but the Yankees slugger did so in a fashion different than usual Monday night.
Blue Jays broadcasters raised their eyebrows at Judge's eighth-inning at-bat in the series opener between Toronto and New York at Rogers Centre. On more than one occasion, the 2022 American League MVP shot a quick glance toward the Yankees' dugout, which isn't exactly commonplace. The six-pitch at-bat concluded with Judge walloping a 462-foot home run to center field off an 83 mph slider from right-handed reliever Jay Jackson. It was Judge's second homer of the game, and the pair of dingers helped the Bronx Bombers grab a 7-4 win.
After the game, Judge explained the suspicious looks before the colossal long ball.
"A lot of chirping from our dugout, which I really didn't like in the situation where it's a 6-0 game and I know Booney (Yankees manager Aaron Boone) got tossed," Judge told reporters, per a clip shared by Jomboy Media. "I was trying to save Booney by calling timeout like, hey, hold up here. Let me work here. So, I was kind of trying to see who was chirping in the dugout. Like, it's 6-0. Booney got tossed, let's go to work now."
Boone was ejected for arguing a questionable strike call on the third pitch of Judge's eighth-inning at-bat. The Yankees manager corroborated Judge's explanation after the game, explaining the four-time All-Star was distracted by the noise coming out of the New York dugout.
The Yankees and the Blue Jays will meet again Tuesday night, with first pitch scheduled for 7:07 p.m. ET.
