Video: Yankees' Aaron Judge Talks 1st Career Ejection After Arguing 3rd Strike Call

New York Yankees star Aaron Judge says he was "very surprised" to receive the first ejection of his MLB career after arguing over a third strike call during Saturday's win over the Detroit Tigers.

"Especially a 5-3 game, late in the game, bat on the 3-2 count, kind of walking away saying my piece," Judge told Meredith Marakovits of the YES Network. "I've said a lot worse, and made a scene. I usually try not to make a scene in situations like that, so a little surprised walking away that happened."

Judge was ejected by umpire Ryan Blakney in the seventh inning.

This was Judge's first ejection in 870 career games for the Yankees, per ESPN's Jorge Castillo.

"I got a lot of respect for Ryan and what he does," Judge said. "I know their job's tough. I've always had their back, 'cause it's tough back there. So for that to happen that way, I think that's what I'm most upset about. Especially late in the game like that, close game."

Judge told reporters that it was the first time he had ever been ejected from a baseball game, even going back to his high school and college career.

"Everybody makes mistakes," Judge said. "Everybody gets calls wrong. I get a lot of calls wrong in the box, when I'm up there. So I respect what they do. It's a tough position in sports, to be making balls and strikes, to be making calls like that, in the heat of the moment. So I've never tried to show them up, but I guess in this case I did."

Judge added that he was frustrated the ejection was made while he was walking back to the dugout.

"I think that was the biggest thing is, it's the heat of the moment, 3-2 count, I think it's a ball, I disagree with the call, say what you want, but get back to the dugout and get the game moving along," Judge said. "So to me, facing the dugout walking away and I get tossed... I didn't even see myself get tossed. I think it was the crowd reaction, is what I heard."

Judge ended the game having gone 2-for-4 at the plate, including an RBI double, while scoring two runs.

It was a strong outing for Judge, who entered Saturday's contest hitting .200/.336/.392 with 12 extra-base hits in a relatively slow start through 34 games.

Thanks to his ejection, it was also a historic outing. Judge is the first Yankees captain to be ejected from a game since Don Mattingly was tossed during a game against the Milwaukee Brewers on May 13, 1994 for similarly arguing a called strike in the seventh inning, per the YES Network's Seth Rothman and the New York Times.