Fans were eating up every bit of Michael Kay’s voiced suspicions over the Blue Jays’ series win, accusing him of seemingly saying that the Yankees lost to cheaters.
The YES network broadcaster has been accused of insinuating the rival team was cheating during the series as they looked like a “completely different team.”
The first three-game series between the two teams came in early April this season in which the Yankees took two of three.
A week later in Toronto, the Blue Jays got their revenge, running Carlos Rodon for 101 pitches across only four innings and they made Marcus Stroman work for 99 pitches over 5 1/3 frames on Wednesday.
Toronto ended up handing the Yankees their first series loss of the season.
“You know what’s curious to me, though? We just saw the Blue Jays in the Bronx, and what we watched was a completely different team than the one we’ve seen here in Toronto,” Kay said during Wednesday’s YES broadcast during a long at-bat by Bo Bichette. “The one in New York did not foul off the amount of pitches this team does — it’s like it’s a different team in this ballpark. Now, home field advantage, there is something to that, but why would it manifest itself in the ability to foul off tough pitches?…
“You can understand it if the next time you see them, after you saw them in The Bronx, is a month and a half later, but this is a week later, and it’s a completely different approach and a completely different team.”
Fans were quick to take to social media to voice the suspicion heard in Kay’s comments, including FanSided’s MLB director Adam Weinrib, who wrote “I can’t be the only one who picked up on Michael Kay’s Blue Jays suspicion here.”
“Is michael kay tryna say the blue jays are cheating??” one X user wrote.
Another wrote, “Having a good game/plate approach = cheating as per Michael Kay. Push the agenda!”
However, there is one statistic that can get behind Kay’s argument and that is the Blue Jays home vs. road splits this season.
Although the Blue Jays are only 20 games in and early statistics can be fickle, they’re hitting better when at Rogers Centre, which underwent some renovations before the season.
At home, they hold a .279 average and .756 OPS.
While on the road, the Blue Jays decently dip to a .193 average and .627 OPS.
The Blue Jays are 6-3 at home and 5-6 on the road so far this season.
The Yankees also had another controversial issue against the Blue Jays last year when Judge knocked out a homer and was caught looking toward the Yankees dugout that drew speculation of Judge receiving a tip from his team.
Judge helped out on Wednesday to help the Yankees avoid the weep in a ninth-inning comeback that was highlighted by his two-run single to give them a 6-4 victory.
