NFL
By: Billy Lewis
Domingo Germán etched his name in Major League Baseball history early Thursday morning in Oakland. Germán, coming off of two awful starts, took the mound for the Yankees Wednesday night against the Athletics. When he left the mound, he became the 24th pitcher to throw a perfect game.
Germán and catcher Kyle Higashioka were in sync all night and did a masterful job at keeping the A’s hitters off balance. Germán was dominant from pitch one and only saw a three-ball count twice.
The closest call came in the fifth inning. With one out in the fifth, Seth Brown hit a rocket down the first base line. Anthony Rizzo made a masterful dive to his backhand side to save a hit. Kudos to YES Network’s, Ryan Ruocco, on his call of the play as well. He made mention to mark that play down just in case something special happened.
The Rizz 🤌 pic.twitter.com/7HLHeWuDBJ
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 29, 2023
The Yankees offense backed up Germán Wednesday night. They scored six runs in the top of the fifth inning, Coincidentally keeping Germán in the dugout for 24 minutes. With a big lead, Germán only had to worry about executing pitches.
While pitchers always love the run support, it can be tough sitting in the dugout for that long. Germán kept himself loose by throwing in the Yankees bullpen, and it paid off huge dividends.
Germán Joins Perfect Yankee History
Not only is Germán the 24th pitcher in baseball history with a perfect game, but he becomes the fourth Yankee to throw a Perfect game. Joining Don Larsen (in the 1956 World Series), David Wells in 1998, and David Cone in 1999.
It was the first perfect game in MLB in over ten years! The last perfecto was Felix Hernández, who did it back in August of 2012.
Germán was in cruise control all night as he racked up nine strikeouts. Perhaps even more impressively, he did so on only 99 pitches. In an era where pitchers seem to get pulled from potential no-hitters due to a raised pitch count, Germán was never in that danger.
Germán. HISTORY! pic.twitter.com/ktEZbxZNIo
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 29, 2023
Germán has had an up-and-down season in 2023. Hopefully, for both his and the Yankees’ sake, he’s able to ride the momentum of this perfect game for the rest of the season.
