Blue Jays' Alek Manoah challenges heated Gerrit Cole after Yankees' Aaron Judge hit by pitch - 'Walk past the Audi sign next time'

NEW YORK — As the race for the postseason continues to heat up, so have the tempers in the toughest division in baseball.

The Yankees clawed out a 4-2 win over the AL East rival Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon, but not before tensions boiled over in the fifth inning when Toronto starter Alek Manoah hit Yankees All-Star Aaron Judge with a 92 mph fastball.

«Been struggling with my sinker for about five, six starts now,» Manoah explained after the game. «I made a pitch and it obviously hit Judge. I looked at him, said, 'Man, you know, I'm not trying to do that.'»

With a runner on second and first base open, Manoah's sinker hit Judge on the shoulder, the same spot in which he had barely missed earlier in the game. Visibly upset, Judge mouthed a few words to Manoah as he walked to the mound.

"[Judge] looked at me and he's like, 'That's two,'" Manoah said. «In the first inning, I did mistakenly throw one up there as well. But obviously, in a situation like that, I'm trying to minimize baserunners. So I told him, 'I'm not trying to do that.'»

Yankees starter Gerrit Cole, who took the loss Saturday, came out of the dugout followed by several teammates during the tense exchange as Judge waved them off. The game was briefly halted but tempers settled, and Judge went to first base. Manoah walked over to talk to Judge and appeared to help defuse the situation.

Manoah said he explained to Judge that it was trouble with his command, but there was no love lost for Cole's fuming reaction.

«I think [Judge] understood that. And I think if Gerrit wants to do something, he can walk past the Audi sign next time,» Manoah said, referring to the luxury car brand logo sprayed on the grass by the visiting team dugout at Yankee Stadium.

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