Blue Jays suspicious of Yankees' Aaron Judge after slugger's 'odd' plate appearance

Monday’s contest between the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees featured a few unusual scenes during a 7-4 winning effort for the Bronx Bombers.

First, of course, was another poor outing from Alek Manoah, who surrendered five runs on six hits and a career-high seven walks before departing after four innings. But the right-hander’s disappointing outing wasn’t the strangest takeaway from this AL East showdown.

Instead, Yankees slugger Aaron Judge’s fifth plate appearance drew the most attention and controversy. Last season’s AL MVP appeared distracted by something before connecting for a 462-foot home run — his second of the game — off Blue Jays reliever Jay Jackson.

Just as Jackson began his windup, Judge’s eyes drifted toward the Yankees’ dugout as if they were trying to get his attention.

Sportsnet’s broadcast was the first to notice this odd sequence, speculating that New York’s bench may have relayed signs or location to Judge. It is also possible Jackson was tipping his pitches in the eighth inning.

Either way, No. 99 got every bit of Jackson’s pitch, blasting his longest home run of the season and tying the eighth-furthest of his career.

Judge was asked about his final at-bat post-game, and said it had nothing to do with sign stealing but that he wanted to see which of his teammates were arguing with home plate umpire Clint Vondrak after Yankees manager Aaron Boone was ejected earlier that inning.

The Blue Jays, meanwhile, plan to investigate the incident themselves to determine what transpired before Judge’s home run. In their eyes, however, things played out a little too suspiciously.

Thus, manager John Schneider will ensure his team is protected from any shenanigans moving forward.

Jackson echoed a similar sentiment after the game, as well, but refrained from making any allegations. Still, the veteran righty intends to shake up his game plan the next time he faces Judge.

New York took the series opener of this four-game set, which continues Tuesday, as Domingo Germán and Kevin Gausman will square off in the second game of this rivalry bout.

After the series concludes on Thursday, though, the teams won't see each other until September.