Yankees walked off by Blue Jays on Danny Jansen's 3-run homer in 10th inning 

TORONTO — The first two games of this series between two expected contenders in the AL East included a bit of everything.

From intimations by the Blue Jays about Aaron Judge cheating to an absurd controversy about coaches staying in the first and third base coaches’ boxes, to a theatrical ejection of Aaron Boone and, of course, a pair of titanic late-inning home runs by the Judge that contributed to a pair of wins.

All of it helped inflame the intensity of the rivalry and stoking a dislike among the clubs that seemingly grows by the day.

Though Wednesday night was far more about just baseball as Gerrit Cole and Chris Bassitt exchanged zeroes deep into the night, both teams likely still staggered out of Rogers Centre after the Blue Jays’ 3-0 walk-off victory in 10 innings in front of 27,431.

“There’s been a lot going on, obviously,” Aaron Boone said in summarizing the series so far. “Tonight was actually kind of quiet considering the first two nights.”

After Anthony Rizzo struck out with runners at second and third in the top of the 10th, Danny Jansen gave the Blue Jays (25-18) a needed victory in this four-game set with three-run homer off Wandy Peralta on a first-pitch slider.

Cavan Biggio started the inning as the runner on second and went to third on an error at short by Anthony Volpe. Volpe, who had entered in the eighth as a pinch hitter, booted Whit Merrifield’s grounder up the middle put runners on first and third.

With the Yankees playing a five-man infield, Alejandro Kirk grounded to short, setting up Jansen’s winning blast.

“It’s a play I should make. I have to back up the pitcher there and I didn’t,” said Volpe, who ranged to his left behind second base but couldn’t come up with the ball. “Definitely no excuses.”

The Yankees (25-20), held to three hits, loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth, but Volpe, pinch hitting for Jake Bauers, struck out looking.

Brandon Belt and Merrifield reached to start the bottom of the eighth against Jimmy Cordero, but Kirk lined out to Volpe and the shortstop quickly flipped to Gleyber Torres to double off the pinch runner Biggio. Jansen walked to put another runner in scoring position but Santiago Espinal flied softly to right.

Cole, 5-0 with a 2.22 ERA entering the night but coming off back-to-back subpar outings against the Rays, wasn’t as sharp as in his first seven starts of the year but was plenty good, allowing seven hits and two walks over six scoreless innings in which he struck out six. The righthander departed with two on and none out in the seventh and was picked up by Clay Holmes, who retired three straight.

“Thankfully, Clay is really, really good at his job and bailed me out there,” Cole said.

The Yankees’ ace, who was mostly pleased with his fastball and slider, nonetheless was still kicking himself postgame for allowing a leadoff single in the seventh to Toronto’s No. 9 hitter, Santiago Espinal, on a broken-bat single to right off a 98-mph fastball.

Cole, who threw 104 pitches, felt that — and the single that followed from George Springer — kept him from going deeper in the game. “I have to be better there,” Cole said of the Espinal at-bat. “Situation calls for a slider right there.”

It was a night of missed opportunities for both teams. The Yankees stranded 10 runners; the Blue Jays left 14 on base.

Bassitt, who came in 5-2 with a 3.49 ERA, outpitched Cole, allowing three hits and a walk over seven innings in which he struck out seven.

“More of the same from last week,” Cole said of Bassitt, who threw a two-hit shutout against Atlanta last Friday in his previous outing. “Sinker command . . . he’s really crafty. A lot of different pitches, gives you a lot of different looks. Good velocity, good execution. Gritty effort by him for sure. He pitched well.”

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.