Source: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty
It hasn’t been the best season so far for the New York Yankees, but last night (June 28), pitcher Domingo German gave fans a night to remember as he made history for only the 24th time in the Major League Baseball.
The same man who struggled mightily in his previous two starts threw a perfect game when he retired all 27 batters that the Oakland A’s sent his way, with a modest 99 pitches used to complete the feat. Coming in with a 5.10 E.R.A., many were wondering if his stint as a starting pitcher for the New York Yankees was in peril, but after last night’s performance, the Dominican Republic representative seems to have bought himself a little more leeway going forward.
According to the New York Times, German was as excited about making history as fans in New York were and the game came on the heels of a family tragedy.
The New York Times reports:
Germán dedicated the performance to an uncle of his who died two days ago who was “always someone that really brought a lot of joy to our family.”
“I cried a lot yesterday,” he said. “I had him with me throughout the game.”
Afterward, teammates doused Germán with a cooler during his television interview, and he posed for photos with the game ball and his catcher, Kyle Higashioka, and then the rest of his teammates.
It was the fourth perfect game in Yankees history, after Don Larsen’s in the 1956 World Series, David Wells’s in 1998 and David Cone’s in 1999. It was also the second Yankees no-hitter in the past three seasons, following a 2021 performance by Corey Kluber against the Texas Rangers. Higashioka was behind the plate for both games.
You gotta love it. Unless you’re a hardcore Mets fan as their season has been the strugglest of struggles in 2023.
Check out the pitch that made history below and let us know if you witnessed history when it was made last night in the comments section below.
