NEW YORK -- Ejections and eruptions built to triumph, then heartbreak, on Tuesday night in the Bronx, and the Blue Jays aren’t happy about it.

Aaron Judge’s three-run, walk-off home run would be a gut punch on any other night, but this wasn’t any other night. The Blue Jays and Yankees have gone blow for blow in heavyweight tilts this season -- almost too literally on Tuesday in New York's 6-5 victory -- and this was their most dramatic bout yet.

This is how the madness unfolded, and how those involved saw it all play out.

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The scene
It all started in the sixth inning. Those were simpler times for the Blue Jays, but after reliever Yimi Garcia gave up a three-run shot to Giancarlo Stanton to tie the game at 3-3, the unraveling began. Garcia started off the next batter, Josh Donaldson, with a strike inside, but his next pitch sailed up and in, hitting Donaldson squarely on the upper left arm.

As Donaldson walked up the first-base line, several Yankees players shouted from their dugout at Garcia and the umpiring crew. After the crew met on the infield, Garcia was tossed without a warning, sending manager Charlie Montoyo shooting out of the Blue Jays' dugout like a rocket. Before Montoyo could reach the umpires, pitching coach Pete Walker was ejected behind him. Bench coach John Schneider restrained Garcia before Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ran in and walked with Garcia to the dugout, draping an arm across his back.

The next inning, it was Montoyo’s turn. Bo Bichette took a pitch up and in from Jonathan Loáisiga, knocking him back, and when Montoyo yelled to the umpires from the dugout, he was immediately tossed. He didn’t leave without getting some more in, though, coming onto the field with his right hand shielding his mouth to protect him from lip-readers.

What the Blue Jays said
Montoyo: “I’m going to tell you exactly what they told me. The reason they thought that Yimi Garcia threw at Donaldson was because [Blue Jays catcher Tyler] 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.”

Bichette: “There’s no reason anybody would try to hit anybody in a 3-3 game. There was just as much reason for us to hit him as them to hit me, which is none. The umpires are doing their best, but I didn’t think that was right. Yeah, surprising.”

García: Early Wednesday, García said through a club interpreter that he had "no intention" of hitting Donaldson and "no idea" that words were exchanged with Donaldson prior to him entering. Besides, he was still out in the bullpen. García did take issue, however, with the baseball's grip, a gripe that was shared by other Blue Jays pitchers Wednesday.

“Last night was one of the worst nights in my playing career regarding the baseball," García said. "The balls we are using right now -- it’s bad. The balls are really bad and very slippery. I can’t believe it.”

What Donaldson said
“In my heart of hearts, I don’t think it was [intentional], but it didn’t look good on television, that’s for sure.”

What about the words exchanged with Heineman, then? Donaldson acknowledged that happened, saying simply that the discussion was about “baseball” but that the two don’t have any history, adding a classic Donaldson quote:

“I didn’t even know the guy. I didn’t even know that was his name. Never heard of him.”

What the umpires said
Crew chief Alfonso Marquez detailed the situation exactly how Montoyo described it, saying that the interaction between Donaldson and Heineman “definitely played into it,” along with the game situation following Stanton's home run.

“Given all the situations up to that specific moment, we just deemed it intentional,” Marquez said. “And when that happens, we have to eject and or [issue] warnings, but we felt ejection was the way to go.”

The aftermath
A game on May 10 will never make or break a season, but it’s clear that these Blue Jays and Yankees games are a different monster in 2022. With the two sides on a potential collision course come October, this isn’t just a division foe, it’s a legitimate rival.

Montoyo didn’t like how it happened, but he’s not taking Tuesday as a negative across the board.

“Actually, I’m proud of my team for coming back after all of that,” Montoyo said. “Believe me, we could have said, ‘Oh, the umpires are against us’ and all of that stuff. No, we battled back and we had the best closer in baseball there in the ninth inning. It’s actually the other way around. I’m proud of my team for coming back in a game like this.”