During bids for no-hitters and perfect games, traditional baseball superstition demands that the pitcher who throws the gem not be disturbed. Teammates and coaches shy away.
But after Domingo German pitched a perfect seventh inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Wednesday, Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake sat down and chatted with him.
Breaking tradition didn’t make any difference. Jermaine struck out the next six hitters in order for the Athletics to win the 24th perfect game in Major League Baseball history, 11–0.
“Very exciting,” the German said in Spanish through an interpreter during an on-field interview with Yes Network after the game. “When you think about something very unique in baseball. Not many people have the opportunity to present a perfect game and achieve something like that.
After a relative string of those — two in 2010 and three in 2012 — nearly 11 years had passed since Seattle Mariners star Felix Hernandez threw the major league’s most recent perfect game, in which a pitcher struck out all 27 he faced. Retires batsmen without permission. Single baserunner.
German, who came into the game with a 5.10 ERA this season, remained scoreless after a long delay in the dugout as his team scored six runs in the top of the fifth inning; when Oakland’s pitcher went down with an injury in the seventh; And when the Yankees scored more runs in the ninth. And he kept his streak going with two outs in the bottom of the eighth when a ball bounced off the Oakland bullpen and his matchup with Jonah Briden was briefly put on hold.
The modest crowd of 12,479 in Oakland, California, rose to its feet when German came out to start the ninth inning and faced the first batter of the inning, shouting, “Come on, Yankees.”
Germán completed the perfect game by inducing Auckland pace outfielder Asturi Ruiz to join a club with Hernandez, a player he called his childhood idol.
“That last innings was very different – very different,” the German said. “I felt pressure that I had never felt before. I’m trying to visualize what I want to execute there. Also, I don’t want to miss out.”
He added, “So much pressure but still so rewarding.”
Jermaine dedicated the performance to an uncle who had died two days earlier, who “was always someone who really brought a lot of joy to our family.”
“I cried a lot yesterday,” she said. “He was with me the whole game.”
Afterwards, Jermaine was showered with coolers by teammates during a televised interview, and he posed for photos with the game ball and catcher Kyle Higashioka, and then with the rest of his teammates.
It was the fourth perfect game in Yankees history after Don Larson in the 1956 World Series, David Wells in 1998, and David Cone in 1999. It was also the second Yankees no-hitter in the past three seasons, following Corey’s 2021 performance. Kluber against the Texas Rangers. Higashioka was behind in both games.
German entered the game throwing his curveball nearly 40 percent of the time this season, even more than his fastball, and Higashioka said it was a key pitch Wednesday as German struck out 20 of his 27 strikeouts. It was used to record.
Higashioka said, “He was brilliant tonight and he deserves all the credit.”
The sporting masterpiece was the highest point ever in an uneventful season for the German. He was suspended for 10 games in mid-May for violating league rules against the use of foreign substances on the ball. He has put in strong performances, such as last month against Cleveland where he allowed only one run in eight overs and a third inning. But his last two starts were a far cry from that performance, with five earned runs against Boston and Seattle and 15 earned runs in the third inning.
Uneven weather is nothing new for the Germans. He went through periods of success and failure during his six-plus years in the majors, battling multiple injuries and serving an 81-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy, which covered part of the 2019 season and part of 2020. The whole part was included.
But for one night in Oakland, she put everything together. He said that he thought about perfection during Wednesday’s game. And, in the end, no one could touch him.