NEW YORK -- Benches cleared but no punches were thrown following a shouting match between Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia and Tampa Bay Rays hitter Avisail Garcia during a game Tuesday night.

Sabathia struck out Garcia looking to strand two runners in the sixth inning. Sabathia appeared to say something to Garcia as he walked off the mound, and a surprised Garcia looked up and raised his arms. Sabathia kept jawing from a distance and pointed at Garcia, who began yelling back.

Shortstop Didi Gregorius ran in to hold Sabathia back, and both benches and bullpens cleared. Gregorius led a fired-up Sabathia back to the dugout, and both teams dispersed shortly after.

Sabathia was ejected for plunking the Rays' Jesus Sucre during his last regular-season start in 2018 and has had a few salty run-ins with Tampa Bay this season, including when he threw at Austin Meadows three times and shouted insults during a game in May.

The 38-year-old left-hander has also been excellent against Tampa Bay, entering Tuesday with a 2.36 ERA in seven starts against the Rays over the past two seasons. He left after six innings Tuesday with New York trailing 3-2 before they came back and won 8-3.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.