The New York Yankees remain hot on the heels of the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East, trailing by just two games with 19 remaining after Sunday’s 4-3 win.
New York got seven strong innings from lefty Max Fried, spotless relief work from Devin Williams and David Bednar, and three-run home run by Ben Rice. But it also benefitted from some clear pitch tipping by Toronto starting pitcher Max Scherzer, who was chased after laboring through 4.1 innings.
It was particularly noticeable in the first inning when outfielder Cody Bellinger spread his arms ahead of a pair of changeups to Aaron Judge while on the basepaths. Later in the inning, Judge made the same gesture to Rice, who homered off a fastball on the 10th pitch of his at-bat for a 3-0 lead.
“They’re good at it,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said, via Sportsnet. “Max has got to be a little bit better. It was obvious in the changeups, Rice just missed one, foul homer.”
Yankees Acknowledge Scherzer Was Tipping Pitches
Bellinger acknowledged postgame the Yankees had picked up cues from Scherzer in the stretch.
“That is correct. That is what was happening,” Bellinger told NJ.com’s Bob Klapisch.
While it gave the Yankees a distinct advantage, there is nothing illegal about picking up a sign and relaying it to your teammate, so long as electronics are not involved. In fact, the practice has become rather commonplace in Major League Baseball, though teams are generally more subtle in how they communicate.
“We talk about it pregame,” Bellinger added, “and you just go out there and look for it. If you see it, then you obviously do what you can.”
Blue Jays Manager Calls Relaying Signs ‘Fair Game’
Scherzer admitted he’s had trouble disguising his changeup, which he threw 17 times in 4.1 innings.
“It’s something we’re aware of, that you can get my changeup out of my glove from first base,” Scherzer said, via The Athletic. “It’s something we’ve known. It’s not just the Yankees. Across the league, guys can do that. I’ve had multiple people tell me that. I thought I had addressed it, thought I had made the proper adjustment to get my glove in front of my face, but clearly, I hadn’t.”
Schneider called the Yankees’ strategy “fair game” and said the Blue Jays need to be more discrete in how they execute their pitches.
“Major League Baseball knows the Yankees are good when they got something. I’m not the only one that’s going to say it,” Schneider said. “Maybe I’m the only one that’s going to say it publicly, but we got to do a better job of making sure we’re not giving anything away. So, at the end of the day, you got to be tight, you got to make pitches.”
Toronto and New York aren’t scheduled to meet again in regular season but could face each other in the playoffs. The Yankees improved to 80-63 after winning the rubber game of their crucial three-game set and are 1.5 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox for the first AL wild card spot.
Yankees Star Responds to Blue Jays Pitch Tipping Comments After Key Series Win