'Bit Of a Dislike': Tensions Grow As Blue Jays Fall to Judge's Yankees
Chaos reigned at Rogers Centre.
It started with pre-game verbal jabs and carried into Tuesday night's game. A day after stray glances from Aaron Judge and allegations of oddness dominated the discourse, Tuesday's game took the chaos to another level. As the Blue Jays fell 6-3 to the Yankees, ejections, crowd boos, and dugout confrontations took the spotlight.
"It's two really good teams that like to kind of jab back and forth at each other," Kevin Gausman said. "There's definitely kind of a little bit of a dislike and so that adds to the fuel."
The fireworks kicked off in the third inning when pitching coach Pete Walker marched down the Jays’ dugout to call out at New York’s third base coach, Luis Rojas. Walker snapped out at Rojas for standing outside the coach’s box, an issue the Blue Jays raised with MLB prior to the game. The Yankee coach shouted back in at Walker as the umpiring crew intervened, surrounding Rojas to snuff out the situation. Both coaches retook their spots and the game rolled on.
“Pete was probably more playful than anything, saying 'I’m watching you,'” manager John Schneider said. "Rojas kind of took exception to it. It’s two competitive teams. You’re not pleased with everything that’s shaken out in the last 24 hours, and I think it’s just people being competitive.”
Just when it seemed like calmness would prevail, all four umpires crowded around Yankees hurler Domingo German as he popped out of New York's dugout. After checking the starter's glove for foreign substances, crew chief James Hoye raised his arm and threw German out of the game. In line with MLB's new foreign substance rules, the Yankee starter will face a 10-game suspension.
“As far as that, I’ll let Domingo worry about that for the next 10 days,” Schneider said.
As the layers of drama stacked up in Tuesday's tilt, Yankees manager Aaron Boone yelled out from the road dugout as Whit Merrifield lined out to kill a bases-loaded threat in the fourth. This time the dugout banter was Boone yelling out at Toronto's third base coach, Luis Rivera, for straying too far from the coach's box. Between innings the crew chief once again spoke with both dugouts, attempting to de-escalate the situation.
“[Hoye] was saying let me take care of where everyone’s standing," Schneider said. "Competitive environment, people say things they may or may not regret.”
The dugout mayhem ended there, and the chaos that followed was only of the baseball variety. Instead of ejections and heated umpire chats, the Blue Jays' bats orchestrated what would've been Toronto's 11th comeback win of the season. After stringer together singles, doubles, and a homer in the fifth frame, the Jays clawed back to a draw.
But, the tie only set up the night's true protagonist (antagonist?): Aaron Judge. The gargantuan Yankee slugger stepped into the box in the eighth inning and delivered the seemingly inevitable slam. The Rogers Centre crowd let out a collective gasp as Judge connected on the pitch, knowing immediately where the ball would land.
The man that started the drama on Monday night, finished it on Tuesday.
Mitch Bannon is a baseball reporter for Sports Illustrated covering the Toronto Blue Jays and their minor league affiliates.Twitter: @MitchBannon