Aaron Boone tossed in Yankees' loss to Blue Jays

TORONTO — The Yankees’ 11-game winning streak ended Wednesday night in a 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

Aaron Boone wasn’t around to see the end of it.

The Yankees manager, irate at a pair of borderline called strikes on Aaron Judge during an eighth-inning at-bat — and a handful of ball-strike calls from earlier in the game — was thrown out by plate umpire Marty Foster, the pair going nose-to-nose in a heated discussion before Boone eventually left the field.

“Obviously, upset a little bit there, upset with a couple of others,” said Boone, one of the others being a borderline called third strike on Judge for the second out of the sixth inning. “We’re playing for a lot, just felt like there were a couple situations there that didn’t go our way.”

Foster appeared to say “you spit on me” several times during the argument which, if true, could lead to a Boone suspension. Foster and crew chief Ron Kulpa declined to comment afterward to a pool reporter.

“I don’t know,” Boone said. “I was pretty mad out there. I don’t think so. Kept it under control somewhat.”

Regardless, Boone’s outburst was a hit in the clubhouse.

“I appreciate it,” said Judge, who has never come close to being ejected in his career. “I voiced my opinion to Marty during the game, what I was thinking about some of the calls. At that point, that’s all I can do. That’s why I’ve got a manager to stick up for me. If I get tossed in one of those situations, that’s going to hurt us . . . he stood up for us and stood up for me and I appreciate it.”

Added Josh Donaldson: “Boone has the respect of the guys in here because he fights for us. At the end of the day, he’s into it. He knows how hard this game is and he wants us to get the benefit of the doubt.”

The Yankees (18-7), still with the majors’ best record, did not get sparked by the ejection — Boone’s second this season and 19th overall as manager — though they did make it interesting in the ninth. (Judge struck out swinging to end the eighth.)

Jordan Romano allowed back-to-back one-out singles to Giancarlo Stanton, who was replaced by pinch runner Tim Locastro, and Donaldson. Romano struck out Aaron Hicks swinging but walked Joey Gallo, who homered in the third, to load the bases for Isiah Kiner-Falefa. The shortstop, among the Yankees’ hottest hitters the last three weeks, grounded to third, allowing Romano to record his 12th save, which allowed the second-place Blue Jays (16-10) to avoid getting swept (the Yankees challenged the bang-bang last play at first, which was confirmed).

The Yankees, the eighth-inning fireworks aside with Foster, were not done in by the umpiring. They simply did not hit against Toronto lefty Yusei Kikuchi and four relievers. The Yankees were held to five hits, went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven.

Nestor Cortes Jr., who came in 1-0 with a 1.31 ERA, was not sharp but still allowed only two runs and four hits in his four innings. He walked four and struck out three.

Michael King, well on his way to an All-Star bid as a reliever if this kind of performance continues, struck out three over three perfect innings in relief, lowering his ERA to 0.51.

Gallo, in his first game back after leaving Saturday night’s game in Kansas City with left groin tightness, homered in the third for the Yankees’ lone run. Toronto got a Matt Chapman homer in the second and a double by Bo Bichette and subsequent RBI single by Vlad Guerrero Jr. in the third for the 2-1 lead.

“Start it back up again,” Aaron Hicks said of the club’s mindset going into the next game, which is Friday at home against the Rangers. “We had a good stretch, and we know we’re capable of winning that many games [in a row] again.”

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.