Jay Jackson says he was tipping pitches against Aaron Judge - ESPN

Blue Jays pitcher Jay Jackson says he was tipping his pitches while facing Yankees star Aaron Judge, who has received widespread scrutiny for a sideways glance before his mammoth home run off the Toronto right-hander.

Television cameras showed Judge quickly glance toward the Yankees' first-base dugout before his 462-foot homer in the eighth inning Monday against Jackson.

The Blue Jays' broadcasters speculated Judge was looking for some kind of signal, and Toronto manager John Schneider called the slugger's glance «kind of odd,» but Jackson offered a straightforward explanation during an interview with The Athletic.

«From what I was told, I was kind of tipping the pitch,» Jackson told The Athletic as part of a report published Wednesday. «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.»

It was the second homer of the night for Judge, who said after the game that he was trying to identify «who was chirping from our dugout» at home plate umpire Clint Vondrak.

The Blue Jays, however, did not buy Judge's explanation, and Schneider mentioned that the reigning American League MVP could have been receiving signals from Yankees first base coach Travis Chapman.

«If they knew it was coming and he clipped me, he clipped me,» Jackson told The Athletic. «I'm glad he hit it as far as he did.»

Judge's homer came on a 3-2 slider from Jackson — the sixth consecutive slider he threw in the at-bat. Jackson, who was demoted to the minors before Tuesday's game, said multiple members of the Blue Jays informed him that he was tipping pitches.