OAKLAND, Calif. — Since making his Major League Baseball debut six years ago, Domingo Germán had been anything but perfect.
Until now.
The 30-year-old New York Yankees right-hander pitched the 24th perfect game in MLB history, retiring every batter he faced in an 11-0 victory Wednesday over the Oakland Athletics. The matchup on the West Coast wasn’t completed until after midnight on the East Coast, forcing Yankees fans in the Big Apple to stay up late to catch history.
It was the first perfect game at baseball’s highest level since Seattle Mariners ace Félix Hernández threw one against the Tampa Bay Rays on Aug. 15, 2012. There were three that season, but none since until Germán ended the drought.
He joined Don Larsen (1956), David Wells (1998) and David Cone (1999) as Yankees to pitch perfect games. Larsen’s gem came in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Germán helped the Yankees become MLB’s first franchise with four, breaking a tie with the Chicago White Sox
“So exciting,” Germán said through a translator. “When you think about something very unique in baseball, not many people have an opportunity to pitch a perfect game. To accomplish something like this in my career is something that I’m going to remember forever.”
Coming off a pair of terrible starts, Germán (5-5) struck out nine of 27 hitters against the A’s, who have the worst record in the majors. The teams played again Thursday afternoon, and New York beat Oakland 10-4, improving the Yankees to 45-36 and dropping the A’s to 21-62.
Germán served a 10-game suspension last month after getting ejected from a game against the host Toronto Blue Jays for using an illegal grip-enhancing substance on the mound. He was also banned 81 games by MLB earlier in his career due to an a domestic violence allegation.
His only previous complete game as a professional came with Double-A Trenton in April 2017.
Winless in six previous outings against Oakland, Germán threw 72 of 99 pitches for strikes. He mixed 51 curveballs and 30 fastballs that averaged 92.5 mph with 17 changeups and one sinker.
He went to three balls on a batter just twice, falling behind Ryan Noda 3-1 in the fourth and Jonah Bride by the same count in the eighth. Noda struck out on consecutive curveballs, and Germán followed with three straight curves to Bride: one for a called strike, the next resulting in a foul ball and the third in a groundout.
He’s the first pitcher from the Dominican Republic to complete a perfect game.
“It was just so fun to watch him do that and go to work. We’ve seen him flirt with outings like that over time,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, thinking to when Alex Verdugo of the Boston Red Sox broke up Germán’s no-hit bid in the eighth inning of a July 2021 game.
“When he gets rolling like that, he’s just so fun to watch at his craft because he’s so good at commanding all of his pitches. His curveball was great tonight, but because his changeup and his fastball were good, too, it made that curveball even more special.”
Seth Brown came the closest to reaching base for the A’s, hitting a sharp grounder in the fifth inning to first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who made a diving stop and tossed to Germán for the out.
With the crowd of 12,479 on its feet for the ninth, Germán quickly finished what he started. He got Aledmys Díaz to ground out before Shea Langeliers flied out to short center field. When Esteury Ruiz grounded out to third baseman Josh Donaldson to end it, New York’s dugout and bullpen emptied as Germán’s teammates raced out to the mound to celebrate.
“That last inning was very different — very different. I felt an amount of pressure that I’ve never felt before,” Germán said. “I’m trying to visualize what I want to execute there. At the same time, I don’t want to miss. So much pressure, but yet so rewarding. The key there was not to overthrow.”
Oakland leadoff hitter Tony Kemp said Germán’s curveball set up everything else.
“He threw that curveball in any count that he wanted to,” Kemp said. “It was spinning differently and moving differently. He put his fastball where he wanted to. Changeup as well. He just kind of mixed them. Got a couple of good swings off him, but no results.”
AP photo by Godofredo A. Vásquez / Domingo Germán pitches for the New York Yankees during the seventh inning of Wednesday’s 11-0 win against the Oakland Athletics.Six days after allowing a career-high 10 runs (eight earned) and four homers in 3 1/3 innings in a loss to the Mariners at home, Germán got his 500th career strikeout and was the definition of perfection.
“This has not been an easy week or time for him,” Boone said. “For him to go out there and paint that masterpiece was really just a lot of fun just to be able to watch.”
It was the 13th no-hitter in Yankees history, and the first since Corey Kluber’s gem against the Texas Rangers on May 19, 2021.
Germán, who idolized former Seattle ace Hernández growing up, is the rare pitcher who wears zero on the back of his uniform.
Never has that number been more appropriate.
“I’m just happy for Domingo. He’s had a rough last couple starts, and he’s kind of been dragging a little bit,” Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka said. “I kind of always felt like of anyone, he has a really good chance to do something like this, and for it all to come together tonight is just amazing.”
It marked quite a personal turnaround for Germán, who went 18-4 in 2019 with the Yankees but was put on administrative leave late that season while MLB investigated an alleged domestic violence incident involving his girlfriend. He missed the entire pandemic-shortened 2020 season and playoffs while serving an 81-game suspension, then met with Yankees teammates and made a public apology at spring training when he returned to the club in February 2021.
Germán was loudly cheered as the game unfolded Wednesday, when many fans in Oakland were decked out in Yankees colors or jerseys.
“Unfortunately, two days ago an uncle of mine passed away, and I cried a lot yesterday in the clubhouse. So I had him with me throughout the whole game. I was thinking about him,” Germán said. “This game is a tribute to him. He would have been so happy. He was always someone that really brought a joy to our family, and it happened for him to watch it this way, from up there.”