Yankees starter Domingo Germán ejected vs. Blue Jays for foreign substance

The Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees have developed quite the rivalry over the past few years, but the first two games of an early-season series have turned the heat way up.

Yankees starting pitcher Domingo Germán was ejected from Tuesday's game at Rogers Centre after umpires found a sticky substance on his hands in the fourth inning.

Germán faces an automatic 10-game suspension for the violation.

The 30-year-old pled his innocence post-game, however, claiming the substance on his hands was only rosin.

"Just a rosin bag," Germán said, according to YES Network. "From the last start a couple of games ago, they (the umpires) mentioned that I wasn't using it enough on the mound. So, tonight I was using it on the mound. And that's it."

Home plate umpire James Hoye admitted to reporters that the pitcher had "the stickiest hand [he's] ever felt."

"It's not rosin. It was not rosin. It was definitely not rosin. Because I've felt hands with rosin. That wasn't rosin," Hoye added. "It was extremely sticky. And rosin usually is kind of like a little tackiness. This was sticky, as in my fingers had a hard time coming off his palm."

Germán's ejection came only a day after New York superstar slugger Aaron Judge was caught suspiciously glancing to the side during an at-bat late in Monday's 7-4 Yankees win.

Blue Jays skipper John Schneider was visibly annoyed about the bizarre sequence in his post-game media availability on Monday.

"It’s kind of odd that a hitter would be looking in that direction. He’s obviously looking in that direction for a reason," Schneider said. "We can probably be a little tighter with some of our tendencies, locations with catchers, gloves — everything.

"In terms of the league, we just want to make sure every coach is where they should be on the field and confident that they will be moving forward."

When addressing reporters before Tuesday's matchup, Judge was not pleased with the accusations that he might've been cheating.

"I don't see why it's a story, to be honest," he said, per the New York Daily News. "If their broadcasters want to make a deal about it, they can say anything they want. I’m not happy about it, but people can say what they want. I’ve still got a game to play. I’ve got things to do."

Toronto pitcher Jay Jackson, who served up Judge's home run in question, confirmed to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal that he was tipping his pitches — specifically his slider — during the at-bat.

“From what I was told, I was kind of tipping the pitch,” Jackson told Rosenthal. “It was (less) my grip when I was coming behind my ear. It was the time it was taking me from my set position, from my glove coming from my head to my hip. On fastballs, I was kind of doing it quicker than on sliders. They were kind of picking up on it.”

The tension was palpable to start Tuesday's game, and it didn't take long for things to get contentious. In the third inning, Schneider was seen yelling at Yankees third-base coach Luis Rojas for moving outside of his coach's box. Words were then exchanged between the dugouts.

New York manager Aaron Boone returned the favour later in the game, signalling for Toronto's third-base coach, Luis Rivera, to move back into his box by the foul line.

Judge cranked a huge, two-run home run — his third in two games — to grab the lead in the eighth inning as the Yankees edged out the Jays 6-3.

With two more games left in this series, we're sure to see more fireworks between now and Thursday night.