TORONTO -- Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán received a 10-game suspension and an undisclosed fine on Wednesday for violating the prohibitions on foreign substances, which resulted in his ejection prior to the bottom of the fourth inning of Tuesday's game against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

The suspension of Germán took effect Wednesday, when the Yankees continued their series in Toronto.

“At the end of the day, he went over the line that the umpires deemed, and now we’ve got to live with the consequences of that,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. 

Exactly what the substance was remains up for debate. Speaking after the Yankees’ 6-3 win over the Blue Jays, Germán insisted that he had used only the rosin bag, which is available at the back of the mound. Crew chief James Hoye disputed that in the strongest terms, saying it was “definitely not rosin,” and that “this was sticky, as in my fingers had a hard time coming off his palm.”

Either way, Germán faced an automatic 10-game suspension, which puts the Yankees in a bind -- they cannot replace him on the active roster.

"I’ve got to apologize to my teammates and my team,” Germán said through an interpreter. “I'm putting them in a tough position right now. Understanding how much the bullpen has been used, and what my plan was for tonight to pitch, and putting them in a tough situation where I'm not pitching out there anymore."

Germán had been one of the Yankees’ top starters this month; he departed with a 1.64 ERA across four May starts after having posted a 5.54 ERA in five April starts.

“It’s a tough spot. He was pitching great,” said Yankees captain Aaron Judge. “It’s something that we’ll definitely talk about over the next couple of days. I think quite a few people have been in his ear about it.”

With the Yankees down a starting pitcher, Boone said that the club plans to activate right-hander Luis Severino from the injured list to make his season debut on Sunday at Cincinnati. 

"No one player needs to carry this load," Boone said. "We'll share it all, and we'll do it together."