The Blue Jays’ Kevin Gausman was still keen on the damn (cheating) Yankees

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Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman wants to win every game he officiates, just like any like-minded and motivated competitor. But he also wants a chance to do that on a level playing field.

The Toronto right-hander was still elated from his most recent start, which saw New York Yankees starter Domingo German thrown off the mat after three innings after umpires found his hands were caked with a sticky foreign substance.

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It was just one hit in four days of highly emotional baseball against the Blue Jays’ hated division opponent. But given that Gausman was responsible for the German fiasco, it hit the spot.

“There was a lot going on and there was a lot of emotion,” Gausman told dem Toronto Sun on Friday before the Jays’ first game of a weekend series against the Baltimore Orioles at the Rogers Centre. “There is frustration. I think there is anger.

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“Obviously that guy over there (German) cheated and dominated us for three innings. So we feel like they owe us three innings.”

While baseball isn’t like hockey, where you can ram an opponent into the rink, there can still be an emotional rush, as all four games against the Yankees demonstrated. It didn’t help that the Jays dropped three of those, but the Bronx Bombers’ recent visit won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

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“We were excited and obviously we wanted to beat them,” Gausman said. “I felt like we played well enough in the last couple of games to beat them. Every time we play them it will be a battle of emotions but also between two really good teams.

“It’s frustrating because there was a lot going on in the first game (when the Jays insinuated that Yankees hitter Aaron Judge was the superficial beneficiary of sign-stealing). This continued up to the second (when German was kicked out).”

This incident also had a direct impact on Gausman as he endured the ejection and another pitch change in the inning, leaving 32 minutes between pitches. The veteran didn’t like that either, especially after the Jays ended up losing 6-3.

“I’m not going to say the way they handled Game 2 was on purpose that they switched pitchers and lengthened the innings … but that’s part of the game now.”

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“In football you ice the kicker and you can do that in baseball and try to get a starter out of your routine.” You can be angry about it, but there’s really nothing you can do about it.”

It came as no surprise to Gausman that signs had allegedly been stolen the night before.

“From previous experiences, I had a pretty good idea of ​​what they were doing,” Gausman said. “But that’s the reality of the game now. We’re in a billion dollar industry and there will be teams trying to find ways to gain an advantage.

“You can be angry about it or try to do whatever it takes to make sure all the boxes are ticked on your side.”

And then there’s German: Gausman hinted that it was clear his stuff might have been a little too good to be true.

“Look at some of the swings he did there in the first half… he got a swing on a break ball from[Vlad Guerrero Jr.]that was in the other hitter’s box and you don’t see that with Vladdy,” says Gausman called. “Obviously (Deutsch) had a really good year, but I think all those things should be questioned now.

“But we can’t do anything about it. He is serving his suspension (10 games) and when he comes back he stops when he stops. If not, he gets another one.”