Angel Hernandez intimidates Luis Gil after insane gaffe screws Yankees' Gleyber Torres

All we ask of any Yankees game is for the competition to be fair, and for the action to never be taken out of the hands of the players on the field. Unfortunately, that's often too much to ask when Angel Hernandez is behind the plate.

Everyone's favorite umpire was up to his own tricks to start off the Yankees' rubber game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon -- or, rather, he was up to some new tricks that were just as frustrating as his old ones.

Hernandez arguably extended the top of the first inning for Luis Gil by giving Bo Bichette the undeserved benefit of the doubt on a 2-2 pitch just off the black, but he saved his more egregious offense for the bottom of the frame.

With a 3-2 pitch coming to Gleyber Torres, Blue Jays starter Bowden Francis appeared to have some trouble getting his motion to the plate started, briefly tripping and disengaging before quick-pitching, never appearing to look Torres in the eye. As we understand it, that's a requirement, and one of the many oddities present and rules broken on Francis' full count pitch.

Hernandez didn't care. He called the pitch a strike and refused to listen to Torres, Aaron Boone, or his fellow umpires. And, not for nothing, the pitch was clearly high.

Why did Umpire Angel Hernandez take strike three away from Yankees' Gleyber Torres on a dead ball?

Angel Hernandez: Too Mesmerized by Ball Four to Realize the Pitcher Fell Over

Francis' 3-2 javelin heave clearly should've been a dead ball -- which is a double shame, because Hernandez would likely be doing a better job if he'd been transported in a time machine to the Dead Ball Era.

Anything to get him off our backs. You'd think suing Major League Baseball would've been enough of a reason to justify his ouster, especially combined with his performance. Nope. The Smug King is allowed to continue changing games.

Before Juan Soto's at-bat, the slugger gave Hernandez what appeared to be a mocking salule, then appeared to spin himself into the ground swinging over a 3-2 breaking ball. Fair to blame that at-bat on Hernandez, too? Feels like it's fair.

And oh, by the way, the fun was only just getting started. Gil, with two on, two outs, and two strikes to Bo Bichette, showed up Hernandez twice with demonstrative gestures after close pitches were called balls. Hernandez didn't much like it, stopping the next at-bat twice to remind Gil to stare at the batter directly (after letting Francis get away with mound-stepping murder in the first frame). Last I checked, the home plate umpire wasn't supposed to take decisive action to throw off the home starter's rhythm while excusing transgressions from the road guy.

Wish we had Vlad Jr. on our side so somebody could shush Hernandez by the end of this one.