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Blue Jays pitcher Jay Jackson said he was tipping his pitches while facing Yankees star Aaron Judge, who has received widespread scrutiny for a sideways glance before his mammoth home run off the Toronto right-hander.

Television cameras showed Judge quickly glance toward the Yankees’ first-base dugout before his 462-foot homer in the eighth inning Monday against Jackson.

The Blue Jays’ broadcasters speculated that Judge was looking for some kind of signal, and Toronto manager John Schneider called the slugger’s glance “kind of odd,” but Jackson offered a straightforward explanation during an interview with The Athletic.

“From what I was told, I was kind of tipping the pitch,” Jackson told The Athletic as part of a report published Wednesday. “It was [less] my grip when I was coming behind my ear. It was the time it was taking me from my set position, from my glove coming from my head to my hip. On fastballs, I was kind of doing it quicker than on sliders. They were kind of picking up on it.”

It was the second homer of the night for Judge, who said after the game that he was trying to identify “who was chirping from our dugout” at plate umpire Clint Vondrak.

The Blue Jays, however, did not buy Judge’s explanation, and Schneider mentioned that the reigning American League MVP could have been receiving signals from Yankees first-base coach Travis Chapman.

“If they knew it was coming and he clipped me, he clipped me,” Jackson told The Athletic. “I’m glad he hit it as far as he did.”

Judge’s homer came on a 3-2 slider from Jackson — the sixth consecutive slider he threw in the at-bat. Jackson, who was demoted to the minors before Tuesday’s game, said multiple members of the Blue Jays informed him that he was tipping pitches.

“One of the guys told me I might have been tipping my pitches,” he told The Athletic. “Then the video guy came back later and said, ‘Hey, we might have picked something up on the difference between your slider and fastball. It might have been something those guys were keying off of. Just be conscious of it. You might want to change it up next time.'”

The Yankees have not been accused of using electronic equipment to decipher the Blue Jays’ signs, which is against Major League Baseball rules.

“If you’re doing things in plain sight, I think that you have to be able to correct them and you have to be willing to have the consequences be what they are,” Schneider told reporters, according to The Athletic. “If it’s done fairly — that’s part of the game. Everyone’s looking to help their teammates, everyone’s looking to pick up on tendencies, so anything that’s happening on the field in the right way — totally fair game.”

The Blue Jays did again raise the topic of where Chapman and third-base coach Luis Rojas were standing during Tuesday’s game, leading to a brief shouting match that involved Schneider, Rojas, Yankees manager Aaron Boone and Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker.

Deciphering an opponent’s signals without electronic equipment and relaying them to a batter is not against MLB rules, and Boone said he found the arguments over coach positioning to be “tired.”

“It’s just silliness,” Boone said. “It’s ridiculous and I think everyone — I hope on both sides — realizes it.”

Judge’s response to the situation was another monstrous home run — a two-run blast that broke an eighth-inning tie and lifted the Yankees to a 6-3 victory Tuesday. The 448-foot drive to center field broke part of a white maple leaf sign — Canada’s national symbol, and the logo for Canada’s West Jet airline, sponsor of the center-field bar area.

The Yankees and Blue Jays conclude their three-game series Wednesday night in Toronto.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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San Jose State receiver Scudero to enter portal

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San Jose State receiver Scudero to enter portal

San Jose State wide receiver Danny Scudero, the leading receiver in FBS this season, will enter the NCAA transfer portal when it opens in January, he announced Friday.

The 5-foot-9, 174-pound redshirt sophomore caught 88 passes for 1,291 yards and 10 touchdowns in his first season with the Spartans, becoming a semifinal for the Biletnikoff Award and earning first-team All-Mountain West honors.

Scudero is expected to be one of the more coveted wide receivers available when the transfer portal officially opens on Jan. 2 and has two more seasons of eligibility remaining.

Scudero spent two years at Sacramento State before transferring to San Jose State after the 2024 season. He broke out with 189 receiving yards to open the season against Central Michigan and surpassed 100 yards in five more games, including a career-high 215 and two touchdowns against Hawaii.

Scudero’s 88 receptions ranked fourth-most in FBS, and he leads all receivers this season with 16 catches of 30 or more yards.

The Spartans produced the No. 14 passing offense in FBS this season but went 3-9 in their second year under coach Ken Niumatalolo.

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Kitchens out as OC after Heels offense slumps

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Kitchens out as OC after Heels offense slumps

North Carolina offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens and special teams coordinator Mike Priefer will not return next season, with the school announcing the departure of both assistants after a 4-8 season in Bill Belichick’s college coaching debut.

“We want to thank Coach Kitchens and Coach Priefer for their commitment and many contributions to our program and student-athletes,” Belichick said in a statement. “We wish them both nothing but the best in their future endeavors.”

North Carolina’s offense was one of the worst in the country, ranking 119th in the FBS in scoring (19.3 PPG) and 129th in total offense (288.8 YPG).

The Tar Heels had special teams issues coming down the stretch too, notably with Duke running a fake field goal to set up a late winning touchdown and NC State successfully running a fake punt for a first down the following week.

Kitchens, who served as Cleveland Browns coach in 2019, had been with the Tar Heels since 2023 and was the interim coach for their Fenway Bowl loss at the end of the 2024 season. Belichick was hired as the new head coach earlier that month.

Priefer was a longtime NFL special teams coach who followed Belichick to Chapel Hill but lasted just one season on the job.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Sources: Iowa St. QB Becht has shoulder surgery

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Sources: Iowa St. QB Becht has shoulder surgery

Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht underwent labrum surgery on his non-throwing shoulder Thursday, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Becht played the majority of the season with a partial labrum tear and using a harness on the shoulder. He was diagnosed with the injury after the Cyclones’ loss to Cincinnati on Oct. 4. He also dealt with an AC sprain in his throwing shoulder late in the season, which he is recovering from.

Sources said Becht is expected to make a full recovery in the upcoming months as he weighs decisions about his future. The quarterback is expected to consider a return to Iowa State or entering the transfer portal.

Longtime Cyclones coach Matt Campbell left the school earlier this month to become Penn State‘s coach. The Cyclones hired Washington State‘s Jimmy Rogers as his replacement.

Becht, a junior this season, threw for 2,584 yards with 16 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. He has totaled 9,274 yards, 64 touchdowns and 27 interceptions in three-plus seasons at Iowa State.

Iowa State went 8-4 this season but opted not to play in a bowl game after Campbell’s departure.

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