Umpire crew chief Alfonso Marquez's reasoning for ejections in Yankees-Blue Jays game

NEW YORK - Neither Aaron Boone nor Josh Donaldson felt Yimi Garcia's wayward fastball to Donaldson's left arm Tuesday night was thrown with malicious intent.

But the umpires decided that it was. 

The ejection of Garcia touched off an angry tirade in the Toronto Blue Jays' dugout, which turned out to be the undercard battle in the Yankees' eventual 6-5 victory at Yankee Stadium. 

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After the Yankees won it in the ninth on Aaron Judge’s dramatic, one-out, three-run shot – the first walk-off homer of his MLB career – the Blue Jays were still simmering over the umps’ decision.

Two incidents influenced the umpires’ view of things.

Bad exchange

In the top of the sixth inning, hard-throwing Yankees reliever Miguel Castro, with an uncomfortable crossfire delivery, nailed Lourdes Gurriel Jr. with a fastball to his left elbow.

And after Giancarlo Stanton’s game-tying, three-run homer off Garcia in the bottom of the sixth, the Toronto right-hander threw one strike to Donaldson before drilling the ex-Blue Jay in the left arm.

Donaldson walked to first base without incident, but the Yankees’ bench was agitated – with Judge prominent among the Yankees who leaned over the dugout railing, screaming toward Garcia and trying to get the umpires’ attention.

At that point, all four umps conferenced and decided to eject Garcia for throwing at Donaldson.

Here was crew chief Alfonso Marquez’s reasoning, via pool reporter:

“Earlier in the game, there were some words exchanged between Donaldson and Toronto’s catcher (Tyler Heineman) that definitely played into it.’’

Marquez said there were “pretty strong words’’ in the exchange, and “then you have a game tying home run and the second pitch, which we deemed intentional…was the reason for the ejection.’’

Curious explanation 

Garcia was so livid, he had to be held back.

Toronto pitching coach Pete Walker was ejected for jumping out of the dugout in wild protest, and the entire Jays’ dugout was on edge.

No prior warnings had been issued after Castro nailed Gurriel Jr.

Donaldson said that in his "heart of hearts'' he did not believe Garcia was throwing at him intentionally.

And why would Garcia drill Donaldson in a tie game in the sixth inning, when every AL East game between these two contenders should be important?

"I’m going to tell you exactly what they told me,'' Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo told reporters after the game.

"The reason they thought that Yimi Garcia threw at Donaldson was because Heineman and Donaldson were yelling at each other in the fifth inning or something. They decided that they thought we threw at Donaldson in a tie game after the home run on the second pitch.”

An inning later, a Jonathan Loaisiga pitch came up and in against Bo Bichette, but plate umpire Lance Barrett ruled there was no intent behind that delivery.

The Blue Jays’ dugout was irate, and Montoyo was quickly ejected by Barrett.

“It wasn’t deemed intentional. It was a pitch inside, which they can still do, pitch inside all they want,’’ Marquez said. “There was no intention deemed behind it, so therefore no action was taken.

“They didn’t like it.’’

Pete Caldera is the Yankees beat writer for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to all Yankees analysis, news, trades and more, please subscribe today and download our app.

Email: caldera@northjersey.com Twitter: @pcaldera