Demoted Blue Jays pitcher makes big admission about Aaron Judge controversy

During the at-bat, Blue Jays announcers Buck Martinez and Dan Shulman noted that on multiple occasions Judge briefly looked to his right while in the batter's box, waiting for Jackson's delivery. Following the second side glance, the 2022 AL MVP crushed a 462-foot solo home run to center field (his second of the game) to extend his team's lead to 7-0.

After the game, Judge explained that the glances were due to "chirping" from the Yankees dugout, as a result of manager Aaron Boone's ejection from earlier in his at-bat.

"A lot of chirping from our dugout, which I really didn’t like in the situation where it’s a 6-0 game. I know [Aaron Boone] got tossed. I was kind of trying to see who was chirping in the dugout. It’s 6-0. Boonie got tossed. It’s 6-0. Let’s go to work now," Judge said.

Scores of reporters defended the four-time All-Star after the incident, noting that even if Judge was picking up on Jackson's tell, he was doing nothing illegal. Toronto manager John Schneider called Judge's glance "kind of odd," but Jackson went as far as to say "I'm glad he hit it as far as he did."

"From what I was told, I was kind of tipping the pitch," Jackson said. "It was [less] my grip when I was coming behind my ear. It was the time it was taking me from my set position, from my glove coming from my head to my hip. On fastballs, I was kind of doing it quicker than on sliders. They were kind of picking up on it."

Judge's dinger came on a full count slider (Jackson's sixth straight slider according to an ESPN report). The righty was sent down to Triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday.