Aaron Judge's boss move, Aaron Boone's meltdown lift Yankees' edge vs Blue Jays

Another one-run win for the New York Yankees! Can you believe it?! The Bombers took down the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in another edge-of-your-seat affair on Tuesday night. Camilo Doval got the save. Ryan McMahon hit a three-run homer. One more victory gets them a series win.

But it was perhaps a couple of other moments that fueled the Yankees against their division rival. The first came in the fourth inning. Aaron Judge was leading off and worked a full count against Dylan Cease, who looked like he was about to cruise through seven scoreless.

Cease dropped in a slider on the outside corner that was called strike three. For a moment, it felt deflating. But there was never a doubt in Judge's mind.

He tapped his helmet, dropped his bat, removed his protective gear, and walked up the first base line before a ruling was made on his ABS challenge. How's that for confidence and aplomb against a rival that completely owned you last year and made it to Game 7 of the World Series?

Judge's crucial walk ended up being one of the most important moments of the night (despite the fact he struck out in all of his other at-bats). The leadoff walk helped start a rally with the Yankees trailing 3-0. Jazz Chisholm walked two batters later, and then McMahon belted an opposite-field home run to tie the game at 3-3. Cease, one of the best pitchers in the league, would only last one more inning.

Aaron Boone's ejection hopefully lit fire under Yankees after tough stretch

Later in the inning, manager Aaron Boone lost his cool. After an Anthony Volpe single, the shortstop attempted to steal second base. He was called out on the field in what looked like an incredibly close play that was inconclusive via replay. Boone frustratingly challenged the call, it was upheld, and he let the umpiring crew have it.

But that was hardly the end of it. Brennan Miller, one of the base umpires, was also responsible for making another controversial call in the seventh inning when Chisholm lined out to center field. Blue Jays center fielder Daulton Varsho made a great diving effort that was ruled a catch on the field. Looking at the replay, though, it was another tough one, much like the Volpe steal.

The umpiring crew didn't necessarily get the calls wrong, but the Yankees were put in a tough spot with two rulings on inconclusive moments going against them. Boone couldn't challenge because of the previous loss. As a result, the Yankees' manager lost it on Miller, who, funny enough, was also the victim of Boone's "Savages in the Box" rant back in 2019.

Boone was ejected with the Yankees leading 5-3. It was up to the assistant coaches and players to maintain a thin margin with an exhausted bullpen against a tough opponent. Though it wasn't under ideal circumstances, they delivered, and fans can only hope this will help reverse their fortunes in close games.

A 2-7 road trip had the Yankees down bad. They were hapless in one-run games heading into this series, with a league-worst 3-10 mark. All fans ask for is this team to show resilience and to stop the bleeding when it's starting to get out of hand.

Without getting ahead of ourselves, we'd venture to say the Yankees have passed their first test on that front. To rebound from the end of that Mets series with the results of these two games against the Jays speaks volumes. Judge and Boone exuding that confidence and fire — something Yankees fans love to see executed properly — surely played a momentous role.

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