The New York Yankees faced the Detroit Tigers for game two of their weekend series on May 4. The Yankees won the game 5-3 behind a big home run from Anthony Rizzo. Despite the win, umpires made headlines after home plate umpire Ryan Blakney ejected Aaron Judge. In his post-game interview with YES Network, Rizzo called out Blakney for being “sensitive” in that situation.
“Umpire being a little sensitive there. I’m sure he’s gonna say he’s right because they’re always right,” Rizzo said. “[Judge] there, obviously frustrated, he’s competing. Ryan missed a few calls today on our end. I’m sure on their end too. It’s [Judge]’s first, so thankfully it comes on a win, and we’ll go joke about it now.”
Rizzo doesn’t expect the umpire to see things the way he does, but still clearly disagrees with Judge being tossed.
The instance marked Judge’s first career ejection. The May 4 contest was Judge’s 869th career game. Manager Aaron Boone rushed out of the dugout to defend Judge, but Blakney’s decision was final as Yankees fans booed him.
Judge’s Ejection
In the seventh inning, the Yankees dugout watched their captain get tossed. Judge was ejected after seemingly disagreeing with a called third strike for the second out of the inning. Judge was walking away after saying some words to the Blakney. On the way to the dugout, Judge had his back turned when Blakney tossed him from the contest.
Judge became the first Yankees captain ejected since Don Mattingly in 1994. Judge is the 16th captain in Yankees franchise history. The captain before Judge, Derek Jeter, was never ejected in his career. Judge became the first captain since Jeter retired in 2014.
“He’s one of the nicest guys in the league. Everyone knows it, the respect he shows for everyone and the umpires,” Rizzo said.
Judge delivered a run-scoring double in the third inning to break a 1-1 tie. The Yankees would never trail after that moment.
“I understand their job is tough. Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody gets calls wrong. I get a lot of calls wrong in the box when I’m up there,” said Judge to YES Network postgame. “I respect what they do. It’s a tough position in sports to be making balls and strikes, and be making calls like that in the heat of the moment. I’ve never tried to show them up, but I guess in this case I did.”
Rizzo Heating Up
Rizzo walked off the Tigers in game one of the series on May 3. He singled through the right side to bring home Verdugo in the bottom of the ninth. He followed it up with a decisive three-run home run in the third inning in game two.
Rizzo is slashing .256/.324/.403 this season. He has also hit five home runs in his 34 games so far. Last season, Rizzo hit just .244 after dealing with an injury for most of the season. In 2023, Rizzo was diagnosed with “post-concussion syndrome, which the club believes stems from a May 28 collision with the Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr.,” according to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch.
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