Yankees' Aaron Judge on Red Sox's Brayan Bello Throwing at Him: 'It's Baseball'

New York Yankees star Aaron Judge seemingly took no exception to Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Brayan Bello nearly hitting him with a pitch on Saturday.

Judge saw the move as just part of baseball, brushing off any speculation that it was intentional.

"It's baseball. It missed," Judge said. "Nothing much I can do besides take it and go to first. It is what it is."

Judge also explained his decision to carry his bat to first base with him after hitting a home run on Sunday.

"I thought I did that every time," he said. "It was a big homer, we're playing the Red Sox, it's a big rival, big game, big moment. Just having some fun with it."

As is always the case with one of the biggest rivalries in baseball, emotions ran high over the weekend. Judge pointed to the heat of the rivalry as a possible factor in why he almost got hit by the pitch.

"Things like that happen. I know they're upset," Judge said, per The Athletic's Chris Kirschner. "I think three of their guys got hit. I think they're just protecting their players. That's the way this game kind of gets policed. The biggest thing is just don't miss."

Judge, who has been electric all season, has performed well against his rival in 2024, collecting 16 hits, five home runs and 15 RBI with a .327 batting average when facing Boston, per Stat Muse.

Whether Judge's outstanding play against the Red Sox was a factor in him nearly being hit is up for interpretation, but it at least saved Boston from giving up a home run to the best slugger in the game in that particular at bat.

Judge and the Yankees handled business against the Red Sox this weekend, winning three of the four games in their final series against Boston this season.

Judge added to his outstanding numbers in the four games, bringing his home run total up to 53 and his RBI total up to 132.