Cody Bellinger gets diplomatic on Aaron Judge's home run controversy

New York Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger took a diplomatic position when asked if Aaron Judge's controversial foul ball call was actually a home run. While the New York side wrapped up their series against the Tampa Bay Rays with a 4-0 victory, a controversial call in the eighth inning robbed Judge of a home run. Despite the umpire's call, many believed it to be inside the foul line, but Bellinger chose to keep some room for doubt when asked about it.

Heading into game 4 of the series with a 2-1 lead, the Yankees put in a commanding performance to get the better of the Rays on Sunday. They started the scoring early, with a Trent Grisham leadoff homer in the first before Cody Bellinger added two more runs with a RBI hit and a solo homer. While the New York offence did their job, the team's defence was especially impressive, limiting errors and pulling off some impressive plays.

Nonetheless, the big question after the game was about Aaron Judge's possible home run called foul by the umpire. When Cody Bellinger was asked about it, he replied (via YES Network):

"I did not have good view of it, but it was probably the furthest ball I've ever seen hit. So, I don't know, I couldn't see it. I just knew that it was one of the furthest balls I've ever seen hit."

While Judge's reportedly 383 feet blast looked to have made it just inside the foul pole, third base umpire Scott Barry ruled it to be foul. While the Yankees chose to review the call, the umpire's decision was not overturned.

Cody Bellinger hails Max Fried's strong outing vs Rays

While Aaron Judge was denied a home run by the third base umpire, the game's official scorer Bill Mathews denied Max Fried a chance to complete a no-hitter. The incident occurred with one out in the bottom of the sixth, when Paul Goldschmidt made an error on a Chandler Simpson hit. While it was originally counted as an error, it changed to a hit later in the game.

Nonetheless, Cody Bellinger hailed Fried's near-perfect game, saying (via YES Network):

"Max just came out and did his thing and pitched into the eighth inning. Just playing behind him is special, he's got some really good stuff and we're playing really good as a team right now."

The Yankees will face the Cleveland Guardians on the road for a three-game series next, before returning home to take on the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend.