OAKLAND, Calif. — Domingo German wrote a perfect game against the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night as the New York Yankees starter allowed no hits and no walks over 99 pitches in the 11-0 victory.
In a tumultuous season that included a suspension and a sub-.500 record in Wednesday’s start, German mastered mixing up his pitches, keeping his defense engaged and posting nine strikeouts against the last-ranked Athletics. achieved. Way.
The German’s effort was the fourth perfect game in franchise history, and the first in MLB since an effort by Seattle’s Felix Hernandez on August 15, 2012.
The first pitcher born in the Dominican Republic to pitch a perfect game, the German became the first player in MLB history to reach that feat after giving up more than 10 runs in his previous start, according to ESPN Stats & Information Research. He joined Don Larsen (1956), David Wells (1998), and David Cone (1999) as the first Yankees pitchers to accomplish the feat. Larson’s gem came in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
When asked in his interview after the game on the Yes Network when he started thinking about throwing a perfect game, the German said through an interpreter, “Complete game long.”
New York catcher Kyle Higashioka said, “I’m very happy for Domingo. He’s had a bad start the last few games and was pulling a little.” “For him to do that and come back into his own? I always felt like he had a really good chance to do something like that, if anyone had. To see it all come together tonight, it’s just amazing.”
The German, who gave up 15 earned runs on 15 hits in 5 1/3 innings compared to his previous two starts, seemed to strengthen as the game progressed. In the ninth inning, he needed only six pitches to complete the game.
“Very exciting. When you think about something unique in baseball, you know not many people have the opportunity to pitch a perfect game,” German said. “To achieve something like this in my career, you know, it’s something I’ll always remember, to be a part of history, is very exciting.”
German went winless in his last six starts against Oakland, throwing 72 of 99 pitches for strikes. He mixed 51 curveballs and 30 fastballs, averaging 92.5 mph with 17 changeups and one sinker.
Oakland manager Mark Kotse said, “He threw strikes, he pounded the zone. When you go nine innings and you don’t get a baserunner you don’t throw strikes.” “Overall, offensively, our approach was not good. We didn’t make any adjustments tonight to what he was doing.”
The win was New York’s third in the last four games and the first on the Yankees’ road trip, which will also include a weekend stop in St. Louis.
A little over a month earlier, German was suspended for 10 games by Major League Baseball for using too much rosin on his hands in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays. He told reporters a week later that he would use less rosin and apologized to his teammates.
On May 16, German was disciplined after fouling out in the fourth inning of New York’s 6–3 win in Toronto. As German headed to the mound for the fourth, he retired the first nine hitters before his hands were checked by first-base umpire DJ Rayburn. Turn.
After the game, crew chief James Hoye said that the German’s hand was “the stickiest hand I’ve ever felt.”
However, the win in Oakland raised his record to 5–5 and the German’s teammates saw an uncharacteristic outburst of aggression. The Yankees scored six runs in the sixth inning and added three more runs in the ninth.
Giancarlo Stanton drove in three runs and scored on the goal. It was his seventh long ball of the season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.