HOUSTON — On a night when the Houston Astros gave away replica 2019 AL Championship rings — won at the New York Yankees’ expense — the Yanks offered their response.
In the third inning Saturday, Aaron Judge clobbered a Zack Greinke change-up for a no-doubt-about-it homer to left.
And as Judge trotted around third base, he pulled his jersey close — a move that appeared to be a mocking reference to Jose Altuve’s pennant-winning homer against the Yanks two years ago.
REUNITED: After decades apart, LaTroy Hawkins gets to celebrate MLB success with his brother
Here was Judge’s deadpanned response: “Whenever they keep the roof closed here, it’s pretty chilly.
“So, I was just letting my team know to button up a little bit.”
Asked a follow-up about whether his gesture could be viewed as trolling Altuve, the Yankees slugger smiled and said: “Everyone’s welcome to their own opinion.”
After sending the Astros to the World Series with his shot against Chapman, Altuve did not want his teammates to tear off his jersey — a move that sparked suspicion that Altuve was wearing some sort of wired device to let him know what type of pitch was coming.
And after the Astros’ electronic sign-stealing scheme was revealed, with MLB punishing the club for transgressions in 2017 and 2018, the Yankees suspected there was still some form of cheating happening in 2019.
Anyway, the Astros (54-36) are giving away Altuve replica jerseys for Sunday’s series finale, with the Yankees (46-42) seeking a three-game sweep.
Pete Caldera is the Yankees beat writer for NorthJersey.com. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @pcaldera
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Aaron Judge appears to troll Jose Altuve during home run trot