Blue Jays' John Schneider takes infuriating snipes at Yankees for relaying pitches

On Sunday afternoon in the Bronx, the New York Yankees kept their AL East hopes alive, adding thread to the rope by defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in a 4-3 nailbiter. After the game, there was plenty for Jays manager John Schneider to be angry about; I'd be infuriated, too, if my All-Star lineup centerpiece struck out with a runner on second and nobody out in a one-run game against the statistical worst reliever in MLB, squashing a rally.

Schneider didn't turn his ire on his own team, though. No, no. He did what a great manager and leader of men does: call out the opposition publicly to deflect blame.

Despite a regulation baseball game being nine innings in length, Schneider couldn't get over the first inning, when Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer had a tell so obvious that it caused Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger to flap their arms around from second and first in order to signal his pitches to Ben Rice. The efforts certainly helped; Rice clobbered a home run to cap off a 10-pitch at-bat.

Scherzer eventually seemed to fix things, striking out eight and nearly handing the ball to the bullpen with a lead. Still, that first inning stung, and after the game, Schneider pretended to praise the Yankees for their completely legal bit of gamesmanship, but instead put on a policeman's cap and tried to get Rob Manfred's attention.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider angry at New York Yankees for relaying Max Scherzer's pitches (and winning)

"Maybe I'm the only one that's going to say it publicly..." Well, congrats, pioneer. Yes, you're definitely the only one to bring this up after getting beaten by the Yankees. We certainly haven't had this exact discourse several times already this season. American League MVP challenger Cal Raleigh certainly didn't explicitly call it out in July. But kudos on being bold. You, John Schneider, are the ultimate truth-teller.

For what feels like the fifth time this season, it's again necessary to say that if you're giving away information, it's not a crime for the Yankees to take it. Perhaps Scherzer, who is 41 years old, has 18 years of MLB experience, and hasn't won a game in the Bronx since the 2011 ALDS, could take care of himself instead of having his manager bash the victors.

"Major League Baseball knows the Yankees are good when they have something" is also an infuriating way to frame the issue, meant to get under the team's skin. Maybe Major League Baseball actually knows the Yankees are good, full-stop, in part because they are good at acquiring information. For all the sloppy play we've seen from New York at the margins these past few years, they certainly are skilled at picking up on ticks and tells and making a big show of it to intimidate their opponent.

Good work on Sunday. It got them the win, and it got Schneider itchy and looking for a scapegoat.