.jpg) Domingo Germán with the Yankees in 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | June 28, 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Oakland Coliseum | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| City | Oakland, California | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Managers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Umpires | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 12,479 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Television | NBC Sports California (Athletics) YES Network (Yankees) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TV announcers | NBC Sports California: Johnny Doskow (play-by-play) Dallas Braden (color commentary) YES Network: Ryan Ruocco (play-by-play) Jeff Nelson (color commentary) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radio | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radio announcers | WFAN: Justin Shackil (play-by-play),Suzyn Waldman (color commentary) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On June 28, 2023,Domingo Germán of theNew York Yankees pitched the 24thperfect game inMajor League Baseball history, and the fourth in Yankees franchise history. Germán pitched it during an 11–0 win against theOakland Athletics at theOakland Coliseum inOakland, California.[1]
With Germán's perfect game, the Yankees became the first MLB franchise with four perfect games pitched. Oakland Coliseum joined the originalYankee Stadium as the only venues to host three perfect games. The game's color commentary for the Athletics' broadcast was done by former Athletics pitcherDallas Braden, who threw aperfect game himself in 2010.
InMajor League Baseball (MLB), aperfect game occurs when apitcher faces and retires the minimum number of opposingbatters – 27 across nineinnings without any batter safely reaching first base. While ano-hitter may allow opposing batters to reach base on awalk,hit by pitch,uncaught third strike,fielder's choice, orerror, none of these occur in a perfect game.[2] Pitching a perfect game is one of the rarest feats in baseball, with only 24 instances officially recognized by MLB since 1876.[2][3] Prior to Germán's perfect game, themost recent occurrence was almost 11 years prior, on August 15, 2012, whenFélix Hernández of theSeattle Mariners pitched one against theTampa Bay Rays.[4]
Domingo Germán made his MLB debut with theNew York Yankees in 2017,[5] and by the2019 season, he had joined the team's regularstarting rotation.[6] In January 2020, MLB suspended Germán for 81 games under the league'sdomestic violence policy, which caused him to miss the entirety of thepandemic-shortened season. He struggled with shoulder injuries during the next two seasons, but returned partway through 2022 and ended the year with a 2–5win–loss record and 3.61earned run average (ERA) in 16 games (15 starts).[7] By 2023, the Yankees did not see Germán as a regular starter until other pitchers in the organization were sidelined by injury.[8]
Germán struggled in the lead-up to his perfect game, entering his start with a 4–5 record and 5.10 ERA.[9] After being warned about MLB'spolicy on sticky substances in April,[10] he was suspended for 10 games in May under a violation of that same policy.[11] On June 16, Germán lasted only two innings against theBoston Red Sox, allowing sevenearned runs in the process, and on June 22, the start before his perfect game, he was booed off thepitcher's mound after giving up a career-high 10 runs in3+1⁄3 innings against theSeattle Mariners.[8][12][13]
Germán threw 99 pitches (thereby making it aMaddux),[14] including 51curveballs. He struck out nine batters.[15][16] YankeescatcherKyle Higashioka, who had also caught ano-hitter thrown byCorey Kluber in 2021, said after the game, "I was a passenger for this one ... Domingo was definitely driving the ship."[17] TheNew York Yankees scored 11 runs, surpassing the 10 runs scored by theSan Francisco Giants inMatt Cain's perfect game in 2012 for the most run support ever in a perfect game. The game ended asEsteury Ruiz grounded to third basemanJosh Donaldson, who threw to first basemanAnthony Rizzo to record the final out.[8]
Germán recorded his 500th career strikeout during the game.[16] It was the fourth perfect game in Yankees history, after games thrown by Don Larsen in 1956,David Wells in 1998, andDavid Cone in 1999. As the Yankees would fail to make the postseason in 2023, it marked the first time a Yankees pitcher threw a perfect game and they didn't proceed to win theWorld Series. It was the first perfect game in MLB sinceFélix Hernández's perfect game on August 15, 2012, the first since the implementation of thepitch clock, and the first thrown by a pitcher from theDominican Republic.[18]
There were 12,479 fans in attendance for the game atOakland Coliseum, with many fans favoring the Yankees.[8] The game was televised locally on theYES Network andNBC Sports California.[19]Dallas Braden, a former Athletics pitcher whopitched a perfect game in 2010, was the Athletics'color commentator on NBC Sports California.[19]Ryan Ruocco, substituting forMichael Kay, called the game on the YES Network, whileJustin Shackil, substituting forJohn Sterling, called theplay-by-play onWFAN.[20]
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| New York Yankees (44–36) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 11 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Oakland Athletics (21–61) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Domingo Germán (5–5) LP:JP Sears (1–6) Home runs: NYY:Giancarlo Stanton (7) OAK: None | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting[edit]
Baserunning[edit]
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Fielding[edit]
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Alexandra Irving became the first woman in Major League Baseball history to be an official scorer for any perfect game with this game.[22]
