A pitcher's duel dominated Sunday's game between the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees.
But it wasn't the starters' matchup between Alek Manoah and Nestor Cortes Jr.
It all centred around an incident in the fifth inning after Manoah hit Aaron Judge with a pitch. All appeared calm when the Yankees slugger took first base and Judge put his hand up to calm his teammates. But that didn't stop Gerrit Cole from emerging and jawing at Manoah.
As Cole was ushered back into the dugout, Manoah and Judge talked calmly by first base and de-escalated the situation.
"I think if Gerrit wants to do something, he can walk past the Audi sign next time," Manoah said, referring to the Audi sponsorship sprayed by the dugout, after the game.
"I've been struggling with my sinker for about five or six starts now and I made a pitch and obviously hit Judge," Manoah recalled. "I said [to Judge] 'man, I'm not trying to do that' and he understood that."
After being questioned on why he reacted so strongly, Cole said that his team had been hit quite a few times recently and that he "was just on one today."
Cole added that his reaction was "not necessarily" because of Manoah and his tendency to be vocal on the mound.
"He wasn't yelling at us today, it was just one too many for my taste. I don't know what to say," he said.
The Yankees went on to win 4-2, with Manoah going six innings, surrendering one earned run on four hits.
