The Yankees and Blue Jays are in the final stretch of a wild-card push, but emotion spilled over in the AL East rivalry Monday in Toronto as a series of hit-by-pitches ignited a benches-clearing brawl in the second inning.
The tension began when Yankees starter Luis Severino hit reigning MVP Josh Donaldson in the elbow in the bottom of the first inning. The Jays retaliated a half-inning later when starter J.A. Happ threw two pitches at Chase Headley, hitting him with the second one, and the benches cleared for the first time with Donaldson, Yankees manager Joe Girardi and CC Sabathia jawing back and forth.
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Not to be outdone, Severino hit Justin Smoak in the leg, initiating a full-out brawl in the bottom of the second inning of a 1-1 game.
By the end of it, Girardi, Severino, Yankees' pitching coach Larry Rothschild and bench coach Rob Thomson were all ejected.