Jays' Schneider: Yankees were relaying Scherzer's pitches

Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider believes right-hander Max Scherzer was tipping pitches during Sunday's 4-3 loss to the New York Yankees to conclude a big weekend series between the division rivals.

Yankees baserunner Aaron Judge was seen moving his arms on second base moments before Ben Rice hit a three-run homer off Scherzer in the first inning.

"Ya, they were relaying. They're good at it," Schneider said postgame, according to Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. "Max has got to be a little bit better, and it was obvious on the changeups. Rice just missed the one on the foul homer. It's fair game, the whole MLB knows the Yankees are good when they got something."

Blue Jays first baseman Ty France acknowledged he also saw the Yankees signaling to each other what Scherzer was going to throw.

"(Cody) Bellinger was kind of flapping his hands around, relaying it (the pitch) to Judge," France said, according to Hazel Mae of Sportsnet.

"Guys at first don't typically flap their arms like that. ... It's just part of the game."

Bellinger confirmed he was relaying to Judge to inform Rice what pitch was coming.

"That is correct," Bellinger said, according to Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News. "That is what was happening."

Scherzer added he wasn't surprised by the Yankees' tactics.

"That's part of the game," the three-time Cy Young winner said. "It's 2025, everybody knows it. We live it. ... That's just part of the game."

Toronto's AL East lead is down to two games over New York after losing two out of three in the Bronx. The Blue Jays do own the tiebreaker after going 8-5 against the Yankees during the regular season.