TORONTO ¨C It was perhaps the Yankees' most bizarre regular-season game in recent memory. Their starting pitcher was ejected for a foreign substance, a key reliever hobbled off the field with a groin injury, and the bullpen flushed an early lead -- all while the umpiring crew diligently checked to see where the first- and third-base coaches were standing.

Yet, with one mighty swing and all eyes fixed upon him, Aaron Judge restored order. Judge blasted a go-ahead two-run home run in the eighth inning, a prodigious blast that helped power the Yankees¡¯ 6-3 victory over the Blue Jays while -- incredibly -- cracking a lit maple leaf that overlooks Rogers Centre¡¯s second deck.

¡°I just describe it as, we¡¯re here to play baseball,¡± Judge said. ¡°We¡¯re focused on one thing, and it¡¯s between the lines of what we¡¯ve got to do to win those nine innings of the game every night. When you¡¯ve got all nine guys in the lineup focused on that one thing, any distractions or noise outside of that doesn¡¯t bother us. We¡¯ve got a job to do on the field.¡±

Judge pummeled a slider from right-hander Erik Swanson, sending it a Statcast-projected 448 feet with an exit velocity of 113.1 mph. The drive chipped the top right corner of the leaf, which rests below the windows of a recently renovated social area.

It momentarily quieted a crowd of 35,112 that had booed the reigning American League Most Valuable Player earlier in the evening, a carryover from the televised images from Monday¡¯s game that appeared to show Judge¡¯s eyes darting toward the visiting dugout during an at-bat.

¡°What a great at-bat; a great swing,¡± Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. ¡°It was a difficult game for us to get through, and just another gutsy effort by that group out there, that just keeps on competing. Judge embodies that as well as anyone.¡±

As Judge rounded first base, he pointed toward right field -- not to the crowd of hecklers, but to the Bombers¡¯ bullpen, which soaked up 18 unexpected outs following right-hander Domingo Germ¨¢n¡¯s ejection.

¡°Those guys were grinding all night,¡± Judge said. ¡°The guys that were left down there, I was giving them a little shoutout.¡±

Said Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who homered and scored three runs in the win: ¡°That¡¯s the MVP. We expect those kinds of swings. I¡¯m not surprised when he does those things anymore. He¡¯s the best player in the world for a reason.¡±

The imagery was cinematic, which seemed appropriate, because this was a game dripping with drama. You had the Germ¨¢n ejection in the fourth, when crew chief James Hoye said they discovered the pitcher¡¯s hand was ¡°extremely shiny and extremely sticky,¡± with the veteran umpire adding: ¡°It¡¯s the stickiest hand I¡¯ve ever felt.¡±

Germ¨¢n¡¯s shoulders slumped as he exited, having retired all nine batters he had faced. Ian Hamilton relieved Germ¨¢n and faced five men before he, too, was heading for the dugout. Hamilton sustained a right groin injury and he will likely be placed on the injured list.

There was a bubbling subplot of war between the benches, stemming from the Blue Jays¡¯ belief that Judge¡¯s darting eyes were obtaining tipped pitch information. The Jays jockeyed third-base coach Luis Rojas to stay within the painted lines of his coaching box; later, Boone would alert Hoye to a similar infraction by Toronto's Luis Rivera, calling the whole ordeal ¡°tired.¡±

¡°I feel like we¡¯ve been playing a lot of chaotic games lately,¡± Kiner-Falefa said. ¡°The AL East is a different animal. It¡¯s fun. It¡¯s what you want when you¡¯re playing baseball. Our guys are able to stick together and find ways to pull it out.¡±

Toronto tied the game in the fifth, inflicting two-out damage on Ron Marinaccio. Kevin Kiermaier homered, Bo Bichette roped a run-scoring double and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. notched a run-scoring single.

But the Yanks' bullpen locked it down from there, paced by Ryan Weber, who tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Clay Holmes worked the eighth and Wandy Peralta nailed down his third save.

¡°Nothing has been ideal about the start of this season, but I know we¡¯re going to show up and play our butts off,¡± Boone said. ¡°I¡¯ll sign up for that. I¡¯ll sign up for going out there every day with this group.¡±