Nicaraguan Dennis Martínez, Venezuelan Félix Hernández and 21 other pitchers have company in the most select club in baseball history. Domingo Germán, a Dominican who had won just 30 major league games with the New York Yankees, pitched a perfect game Wednesday night in Oakland.
Domingo Germán, 30, retired all 27 Oakland Athletics batters in order in a marvelous 99-pitch gem that lasted two and a half hours to inscribe his name in baseball history as the 24th. all-time pitcher to achieve an official perfect game. The Yankees beat Oakland 11-0 before 12,479 spectators at the Coliseum.
When Josh Donaldson fielded Esteury Ruiz’s hard grounder and put him out with his throw to first baseman Anthony Rizzo, Germán became just the third Latin American along with Martínez and Hernández to throw a perfect game and the first Dominican. No one in the Major Leagues had gotten a perfect since “King Feix” had his in August 2012 with the Seattle Mariners. That is, almost 4,000 days ago.
Germán is the fourth Yankee to throw a perfect game among the 24 recorded in Major League history: Don Larsen threw one in 1956, which was also in the World Series against the Dodgers; David Wells threw the second for the Bronx team in 1998, very famous after it was revealed that the left-handed pitcher had a tremendous hangover, and David Cone did the other in 1999 by requiring only 88 pitches.
Domingo Germán after his feat: “I will live it all my life”
“I am very excited… To be able to say that in my career I made one of the greatest achievements in baseball, it is really exciting,” said Domingo Germán in his first words when interviewed by the YES reporter, the official network of the Yankees. “I always dreamed of it and thank God today I fulfilled it, and I will live it all my life.”
The most astonishing thing about Germán’s feat is that he was possibly the pitcher from whom such a game would have been least expected these days. This is because in his previous start, on June 22, he allowed 8 hits and 10 runs for Seattle in just 3.1 innings of work. Before that, on June 16, the lanky right-hander allowed 7 hits and 7 runs in 2 innings against Boston.
On Wednesday, 72 of his 99 shots at home were strikeouts and he struck out 9 while going 5-5 with a 4.54 ERA on the season. His curveball was excellent, according to manager Aaron Boone, but his changeup was also in the best version of him.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Aledmys Díaz grounded out to shortstop, Shea Langeliers popped out to center and then Ruiz came with his drive that was picked up from a bounce by third baseman Donaldson. Oakland’s most dangerous drive came with one out in the fifth when Seth Brown hit a hard grounder over the first base line, but Rizzo dove headlong to field and then threw to base where Germán completed the out.
Giancarlo Stanton homered in the fourth inning and that would have been enough for Germán on his magic night, but New York added six in the fifth, two of them on Stanton’s own single.