Domingo German twirls just the fourth perfect game in franchise history as the Yankees wallop Oakland 11-0.
What’s the Skinny?
Game two of a three game set between the Oakland A’s and visiting New York Yankees ended in an ecstatic dogpile at the foot of the mound to celebrate a rare perfect game. SP Domingo German threw the first one since 2012, and the 24th in MLB history. German, coming off his worst two starts in recent memory, was a perfect 27 up and 27 down, striking out nine on 99 pitches. The game time was 2:30 in front of 12,000 fans.
After three scoreless frames, the Yanks struck first, tacking on a run in the fourth before pouring it on for six more in the fifth. A OF Giancarlo Stanton bomb and a pair of ribbies from 3B Josh Donaldson (who else?) and UTIL Isiah Kiner–Falefa powered the much–needed slugfest against a troubled A’s staff. SS Anthony Volpe continued to swing a hot bat, notching two hits of his own in his second consecutive multi–hit game. Not to be outdone by German, the Yankees offense kept swinging – pouring on three more runs in the ninth to shut the door.
Season Overview
This was a much–needed win for the Yankees. German showed he could right the ship after surrendering 15 earned runs across his last two starts, spanning just five and a third innings. A dormant Yankee offense finally exploded for their first seven-plus run game since May 30. The bullpen finally got the chance to rest, and now Aaron Boone has all his tools and a Bombers squad oozing confidence as the Yanks set their sights on a floundering St. Louis Cardinals squad.
New York proceeded to close out the series with a win, meaning they left the Bay Area better than when they arrived. The Yankees still have half a season to patch together the roster and reach the playoffs. Entering the weekend, they are 45-36 and hold onto the second Wild Card spot in the AL.
Two Major Caveats
There are two things that many people say in the same breath as Domingo German, and neither of them are good: sticky stuff and domestic abuse.
In 2019, German was suspended 81 games for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy after striking his girlfriend at a charity event hosted by CC Sabathia. This suspension was on the heels of Domingo’s career high 18–win season and cost him all of 2020’s 60-game season. By the time he would retake the mound for the Yanks, it was 19 months between starts. This irreversibly stained German’s reputation and caused many Yankees fans–and fans around the league–to call for his removal from the team.
Just this season in 2023, Domingo German served a ten–game suspension for violating MLB’s foreign substance policy after one umpire deemed German’s hand was “the stickiest hand I ever felt.” In that May game against the Toronto Blue Jays, cameras easily captured brown stuff on German’s pants. This was a much-more egregious violation than the other foreign substance suspensions in the past two years.
Competition Perspective
Domingo German has not made himself a very likeable character in Yankees circles, and there are acceptable reasons to hesitate toasting German for his success. Even more, many take lightly the tremendous accomplishment because it was against the historically terrible Oakland Athletics.
For those with reservations about celebrating for German, hear this: a perfect game is a rare and beautiful display of teamwork, trust, and talent. A pitcher and his catcher dominate their opponent, untouched, for 27 outs while their brothers in uniform go to war at the plate and in the field for the chance to win a ballgame. Even though some of the opponents should be in the minor leagues, perfect games are still extremely impressive at those levels, as well.
So even if you cannot stand German, or salty Houston Astros fans cry foul, don’t get it twisted: perfect games are really cool. We can appreciate the accomplishment even if we don’t appreciate the person.
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