The New York Yankees faced the Detroit Tigers for the second game of the series on May 4. The Yankees won 5-3, with Anthony Rizzo hitting a big home run. Despite the win, umpires made news when home plate umpire Ryan Blakney ejected Aaron Judge. In his post-game interview with YES Network, Rizzo called out Blakney for being “overly sensitive” in that situation.
“The umpire was being a little too sensitive there. I’m sure he’s going to say he’s right because they’re always right,” Rizzo said. “[Judge] was obviously frustrated, competing. Ryan missed a few calls today on our end, and I’m sure on their end too. It’s [Judge]’s first, so thankfully it comes after a win, and we’ll joke about it now.”
Rizzo doesn’t expect the umpire to share his view, but he clearly disagrees with Judge being thrown out.
This was Judge’s first career ejection in his 869th game. Manager Aaron Boone rushed out of the dugout to defend Judge, but Blakney’s decision stood as Yankees fans booed him.
Judge’s Ejection
In the seventh inning, the Yankees dugout watched their captain get ejected for seemingly disagreeing with a called third strike, resulting in the second out. Judge was walking away after saying some words to Blakney. On the way to the dugout, Judge had his back turned when Blakney tossed him from the game.
Judge became the first Yankees captain to be 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 friendliest guys in the league. Everyone knows it, the respect he shows for everyone and the umpires,” Rizzo said.
Judge hit a run-scoring double in the third inning to break a 1-1 tie. The Yankees never trailed after that moment.
“I understand their job is tough. Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody gets calls wrong. I make a lot of mistakes 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 led the Tigers in game one on May 3 by walking off with a single 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 hitting .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 struggling 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.
