Tuesday night’s dramatic game between the Yankees and Blue Jays – which New York won 6-5 on an Aaron Judge walk-off home run – certainly resulted in some bitterness for the losing side even before the last-inning heroics by the Yankees star.
In the sixth inning, after Giancarlo Stanton had hit a game-tying, three-run homer, Jays pitcher Yimi Garcia plunked Josh Donaldson and was ejected from the game without warning. The Jays insisted Garcia did not intentionally throw at the Yankees’ third baseman, and the ensuing arguments from Toronto’s dugout got pitching coach Pete Walker tossed as well.
Jays manager Charlie Montoyo spoke for the entire team when he expressed his displeasure at the ejection.
“Of course we were very upset, because we didn’t think that was right,” Montoyo said after the game, per the Toronto Sun. “I’m proud of my team for coming back after all of that s–t. We could have said, ‘Oh, the umpires were against us.’ We battled back.”
“Last night was one of the worst nights of my playing career, regarding the baseball,” Garcia told MLB.com on Wednesday morning, adding that he didn’t try to hit Donaldson at all and that the ball was “really slippery.”
Later in the game, star Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette narrowly avoided a 97 mph fastball near the chin from Jonathan Loaisiga. This time, home plate umpire Lance Barrett did not act at all, not even issuing Loaisiga a warning.
An argument there caused a third Blue Jays figure to get ejected. This time, it was Montoya.
“None of it [made any sense],” Bichette said after the game. “There’s no reason anybody would try to hit anybody in a 3-3 game. There was just as much reason for [Garcia] to hit [Donaldson] as them to hit me, which is none.”
Toronto did manage to retake the lead in the eighth inning and led 5-3 going into the bottom of the ninth. Then, Aaron Judge hit a three-run homer to win it – the first walk-off dinger of his career.