TORONTO — Aaron Boone pulled the wad of gum he had been chewing out of his mouth and tossed it to the left behind home plate as he came out of the dugout in a fury. The Yankees manager had been upset with home plate umpire Marty Foster’s strike zone, particularly against slugger Aaron Judge, all night.
Boone was furious after Judge took two pitches — which appeared to be out of the zone according to the MLB Statcast — that were called strikes. Boone came out at 2-2 in the count to argue.
“The time before (Yusei) Kikuchi was just trying to pitch around (Judge) and so I was obviously upset a little bit there,” Boone said referring to Judge’s sixth-inning strikeout. “And there were a couple of other (calls). But yeah, nothing more. Nothing more than that. We’re playing for a lot and it just felt like there were a couple (pitches) that didn’t go our way.”
Foster and crew chief Ron Kulpa declined to comment on the ejection, but it is likely MLB will review video of the incident. The on-field argument was unusually long and got heated with Foster eventually yelling back at Boone. Foster seemed to be saying that Boone spit on him.
“I don’t know. I was pretty mad out there. So yeah, I don’t think so,” Boone said when asked about the accusation and the potential for being suspended. “Hopefully no suspension or anything. I kept it in control somewhat.”
Boone’s fire, which in 2019 was immortalized by his “Savages in the Box” comment that wound up on T-shirts, wasn’t lost on his players.
“I voiced my opinion to Marty during the game and kind of let him know what I was thinking about some of the calls and at that point, that’s all I can do,” Judge said. “That’s why I got a manager to stick up for me. If I get tossed into one of those situations, it’s gonna hurt us. …. So he stood up for us and stood up for me and I appreciate it.”
BACK IN THE PACK
After missing three straight games with a tight left groin, Joey Gallo was back in the lineup on Wednesday night. He drove in the Yankees’ only run with a solo homer off Kikuchi in the third inning of the Bombers 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays
“I think he proved he was ready to go yesterday and I kind of want to honor that,” Boone said. “I feel like getting back out there, getting a game in and then having an off day, it kind of works well.”
Gallo is hitting .188/.288/.332 with a .816 OPS, three home runs and four RBI. The lefty has struck out 30 times in 64 at-bats and walked nine times.
Gallo first felt it Saturday night in Kansas City as he broke to try and steal second base.
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