NEW YORK - Again, again and again, the New York Yankees kept hammering away.
At the umpires -- and the Cleveland Indians, too.
Manager Aaron Boone, Brett Gardner and the Yankees threw another severe temper tantrum Saturday, this time in prolonged rants that brought several members of the team spilling onto the field in a 6-5 win over the Indians.
"Kinda crazy, to be honest," Gardner said.
Gleyber Torres hit two home runs and Didi Gregorius and DJ LeMahieu also connected for the AL East-leading Yankees.
But what really fired up the crowd of 47,347 at Yankee Stadium erupted in the sixth inning after Cameron Maybin was called out on strikes by Triple-A ump Ben May.
"Mayhem, I guess," observed Cleveland catcher Kevin Plawecki.
For the third time in a month -- each occurring with a minor league call-up umpire behind the plate -- the team with the best record in American League lost its cool in a big way. This episode led to Boone, Gardner and pitcher CC Sabathia being ejected.
It also prompted Boone to accuse the umpires of picking on the Yankees.
"Frankly, I think it escalated because they came looking for it," he said. "Think they were looking for us. It felt like a little bit."
Said umpire crew chief Tom Hallion: "There was an ejection of Boone and things then kind of got out of control."
The pitch to Maybin was, according to strike zone charts, a bit outside. He calmly stood and discussed it with May and went back to the bench.
"It should've been over. But he continued to stare into the dugout," Maybin said.
Moments later, things heated up in a hurry.
Boone came rushing from the dugout to confront May, and engaged in an animated, extended argument. May listened, and Boone returned to the bench.
"I think that it was handled in a professional way," Hallion told a pool reporter.
All seemed calm, in fact. For a moment, anyway.
That's when Boone rushed out for another go at May, with Hallion coming in from second base, trying to quell the beef.
"We objected to a few calls," Boone said, "had some issues."
"In the heat of battle you get a little passionate," he said, adding, "obviously, don't like that."
It was far from over, either.
With the fans screaming, and security personnel coming onto the field, several Yankees were hollering from the dugout, engaging in a close-up argument with first base ump Phil Cuzzi.
Gardner was ejected after banging his bat against the dugout roof -- it's become his habit lately -- and then he climbed over the railing to continue the dispute with Cuzzi. Coaches Phil Nevin, Marcus Thames and Josh Paul also were on the field, holding back Gardner, who was also arguing with third base umpire Todd Tichenor.
Gardner said he was merely trying to rev up his teammates and didn't think he deserved to be thrown out.
"Felt like I had a target on my back," the intense outfielder said.
Gardner said nobody from MLB has told him he can't bang his bat that way. There is no specific prohibition on that -- the official baseball rule reads: "Each umpire has authority to disqualify any player, coach, manager or substitute for objecting to decisions or for unsportsmanlike conduct or language."
"I'm not saying what I did was right," Gardner said. "But I probably won't do it tomorrow."
Last Friday, Gardner was tossed after a rant in Toronto. And on July 18, Boone screamed and hollered at a rookie umpire, leading to the expletive-filled rant where the manager called his hitters "savages" in the batter's box.
Boone said this latest incident could lead to a discussion with MLB about recent behavior.
"It is our job to play under control," he said.
James Paxton (9-6) went five innings for the win. Zach Plesac (6-4) was chased in the fifth.
Aroldis Chapman closed for his 35th save in 40 chances.
- Mo' Mo: The Yankees honored former closer Mariano Rivera with a pregame ceremony, and he took a lap around the field on a golf cart. He's the only player unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame, and his Cooperstown plaque was on display. "I'm glad I did OK," he told the crowd in a short speech. He also threw out the ceremonial first ball -- it was high.
Cubs 2, Pirates 0
PITTSBURGH - Kris Bryant heard a voice from the crowd just before he homered to put the Chicago Cubs ahead in the seventh inning Saturday.
After committing an error at third base each of the previous two innings, Bryant watched Steven Brault lift his leg. That's when he could just make out what a fan had shouted.
"He was making fun of me because I made two errors," Bryant said. "I hit a home run."
The Cubs certainly appreciated Bryant's contribution. After getting out of three bases-loaded jams, Chicago snapped a four-game skid with a 2-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Bryant, who also walked in the ninth, drove the first pitch of the seventh from Brault (3-2) into the left-field bleachers to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. It was Bryant's 25th homer this season and third in five games.
"(Bryant) deserves a lot of credit for coming back the way he did," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "Even his last at-bat, we didn't score, but to draw that walk on (Francisco) Liriano was a nice at-bat."
The Cubs moved within one-half game of first-place St. Louis in the NL Central. The Cardinals and the Philadelphia Phillies, who are chasing the Cubs in the wild-card standings, were playing later Saturday.
Jon Lester (10-8) gave up four hits and five walks in six innings after allowing Pittsburgh to load the bases with one out in the first and nobody out in the fifth. He got Kevin Newman to fly out to right in the fifth before striking out Bryan Reynolds and getting out of it when Starling Marte flied to center.
"I think, finally, I got out of my hard-headedness as far as challenging guys, falling behind in counts and kind of giving in," Lester said. "I feel like that's really bitten me in the rear end this year as far as still thinking I can throw my heater by guys. ... Regardless of the baserunners, I knew I just couldn't give in and throw a heater."
Pittsburgh stranded 11 runners and fell to 7-26 since the All-Star break. It loaded the bases a third time with two outs in the seventh.
After Ian Happ fully extended in left field to catch a sharp line drive from Reynolds for the second out with runners on first and second, Cubs reliever Tyler Chatwood hit Marte with a pitch. Josh Bell bounced to second to end the inning.
"At the end of the day, I think we were 0 for 12 with men in scoring position," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "We left 11 men on base and 0 for 6 with the bases loaded. Pretty much wraps up the story for today."
Happ scored from third on a throwing error by catcher Elias Daz in the eighth.
Rowan Wick came in after Chatwood walked Adam Frazier to lead off the ninth. He retired each of the three batters he faced for his first major league save.
Brault didn't allow a hit until Addison Russell singled to third with one out in the fifth. He reached career highs in innings pitched with seven and strikeouts with eight, and allowed one run on two hits with one walk.
"You've got two major league pitchers going against each other," Brault said. "Jon Lester has been around for a while. He pitched himself out of some jams. It happens. It would have been nice to win, obviously, but I did what I could. So I feel good about what happened. Sometimes it goes that way."
Mariners 4, Blue Jays 3
TORONTO - Kyle Seager got a kick out of displacing Alex Rodrguez from the Seattle Mariners' record book.
Seager hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning, Austin Nola also went deep, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 Saturday.
Seager's two-out drive off the right field foul screen came on the first pitch from left-hander Tim Mayza (1-2).
"At the end, it started hooking a little bit hard on me," Seager said. "I'm not mad at it for staying fair."
Seattle won for the third time in five games after losing eight of the previous nine.
Seager's home run extended his hitting streak to 11 games. The third baseman has reached safely in 21 of his past 22 and has hit nine of his 15 home runs in that stretch.
"You want to get on runs like that," Seager said. "That's kind of how it goes in the power department. You know, you hit them in spurts, at least I have."
Since July 22, Seager has raised his batting average from .186 to .242.
"His timing is really good. He's not in a hurry at the plate," manager Scott Servais said. "He's got a lot of confidence. He should."
The homer was Seager's 190th, the most ever by a Mariners infielder. Rodrguez hit 189 homers in his seven seasons with Seattle.
"That's definitely something that I don't take lightly," Seager said of the record. "I'm very proud of that."
Blue Jays rookie third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. left after two innings because of a sore left knee and was replaced by Brandon Drury.
In the second, Guerrero cut in front of shortstop Bo Bichette to field Nola's grounder and made an awkward throw across his body, too late to record the out. He finished the inning but did not return in the third.
Manager Charlie Montoyo said Guerrero "felt a little tweak in his knee." Guerrero was not available after the game because he had left to undergo an MRI.
"We took him out just in case," Montoyo said.
Nola scored later in the second on a sacrifice fly by Keon Broxton, but Toronto answered in the bottom half on Billy McKinney's two-out RBI single.
Nola homered off right off Trent Thornton to begin the fourth, his fifth, and Broxton added a second sacrifice fly later in the inning, but the Mariners couldn't hold the two-run lead.
Bichette trimmed it to 3-2 with a two-out blast off Taylor Guilbeau in the fifth, and Reese McGuire tied it in the seventh, homering on the second pitch from Anthony Bass. Bichette's homer was his fifth, while McGuire's was his third.
Bass (2-4) worked one inning for the win and Sam Tuivailala pitched the eighth. Matt Magill pitched around a two-out double in the ninth to earn his first career save, catching Bichette looking to end it.
Guilbeau made his major league debut in the fourth, becoming the 40th pitcher and 62nd player to appear for the Mariners this season. Seattle also used 40 pitchers in 2017, while 62 players breaks the team mark set two years ago.
Thornton allowed three runs and five hits in six innings.
Right-hander Reggie McClain opened for Seattle, allowing one run and three hits in two innings.