Playing through sadness and grief after the tragic death of his uncle, Domingo German was still able to take the mound and make history. He threw a perfect game against the floundering Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night, as the New York Yankees starter allowed no hits and no walks on 99 pitches in an 11-0 victory.
In a season full of peaks and valleys that has included a 10-game suspension and a below .500 record headed into Wednesday’s start, German was spectacular against the last-place Athletics, mixing his pitches, keeping his defense busy and engaged and posting nine strikeouts along the way.
German’s effort was the fourth perfect game in franchise history, and across MLB, it is the first perfect game since the Seattle Mariners’ ‘King’ Felix Hernandez delivered one on August 15, 2012. It was the 24th perfect game in MLB history.
The first pitcher born in the Dominican Republic to pitch a perfect game, German also became the first player in MLB history to reach that feat after allowing 10-plus runs in his previous start, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. He joins Don Larsen (1956), David Wells (1998) and David Cone (1999) as Yankees pitchers to achieve the milestone. Larsen’s gem came in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
When asked on his postgame interview on the YES Network when he started thinking about throwing a perfect game, German, through an interpreter, said “all game long.”
“I’m just happy for Domingo. He’s had a rough last couple starts and been dragging a little bit,” New York catcher Kyle Higashioka said. “For him to do this and get back to being himself? I always felt like if anyone, he had a really good chance to do something like this. For it to all come together tonight, it’s just amazing.”
German, who gave up 15 earned runs on 15 hits in 5 1/3 innings over his previous two starts, appeared to get stronger as the game wore on. In the ninth inning, he needed only six pitches to complete the game.
“So exciting. When you think about something very unique in baseball, you know not many people have an opportunity to pitch a perfect game,” German said. “To accomplish something like this in my career, you know, it’s something that I am going to remember forever, be part of history, so exciting.”
Winless in six previous outings against Oakland, German threw 72 of 99 pitches in the strike zone. He kept the Athletics off balance mixing 51 curveballs and 30 fastballs that averaged 92.5 mph with 17 changeups and one sinker.
“He threw strikes, he pounded the zone, obviously. You don’t not throw strikes when you go nine innings and don’t get a baserunner,” Oakland manager Mark Kotsay said. “Overall, offensively, our approach wasn’t great. We didn’t make any adjustments tonight to what he was doing.”
The win was New Yorks third in its past four games and the first of a Yankees road trip that will also include a weekend stop in St. Louis to face the Cardinals.
Just over a month ago, German was suspended 10 games by Major League Baseball after using too much rosin on his hands in a start vs. the Toronto Blue Jays. He told reporters a week later that he would use less rosin and apologized to his teammates.
German was reprimanded after being tossed in the fourth inning of New York’s 6-3 win in Toronto on May 16. He retired the first nine hitters prior to his hands being examined by first-base umpire D.J. Reyburn as German headed to the mound for the fourth inning.
After the game, crew chief James Hoye said German had “the stickiest hand I’ve ever felt.”
The win in Oakland, however, elevated his record to 5-5 and saw an uncharacteristic burst of offense from German’s teammates, especially without Aaron Judge who has been out with a torn ligament in his toe. The Yankees broke out of their offensive slump in the sixth inning, plating six runs, and tacked on three more in the ninth.
Giancarlo Stanton homered and drove in three runs in the win. It was his seventh long ball of the season.
