Astros: Aaron Judge says he wasn’t trolling Jose Altuve

While the New York Yankees and the Houston Astros have built somewhat a rivalry, Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole were all the Bronx Bombers needed to take down the Astros at home with 1-0 victory. The only run of the game came from a moon shot from Judge in third inning off Zack Greinke, who left the contest early with shoulder soreness.

Both teams had missed opportunities on the base paths, but Cole was lights out as everyone knows. In his return to his former employer, the right-hander tossed a complete game shutout, where he refused to be taken out by manager Aaron Boone.

While rounding the bases, Aaron Judge made a similar gesture Jose Altuve did in the 2019 ALCS, but he said it wasn’t to mock him.

The infamous gesture of telling his teammates not to rip his jersey off has been a replayed video across the internet since November of 2019, and while Altuve has taken the heat for it, Judge looked to have mocked the 2017 MVP on Saturday night.

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While this looks like an easy shot at Altuve and the Astros, Judge told reporters postgame that it was because “whenever they keep the roof closed here, it’s pretty chilly.” He told reporters everyone is entitled to their own opinion, which kind of hints to him doing the gesture in mockery.

The Yankees are now 4-1 against the Astros this season, although they have never taken a postseason series from them in franchise history. They obviously have their number, while both teams are dealing with injuries, but the Yankees still stand eight games out of first place in the AL East.

The Astros close out the series on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. with Framber Valdez off the rubber against Houstonian Jameson Taillon. With one game left against each other this season, a banged up Houston team needs a win heading into the All-Star break.