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Posted on: June 29, 2023, 10:05h.
Last updated on: June 29, 2023, 10:05h.
New York Yankees pitcher Domingo German achieved perfection when he threw only the 24th perfect game in MLB history in a 11-0 victory against the Oakland A’s.
German needed only 99 pitches to retire 27 consecutive batters. The Yankees scored 11 runs against the A’s which marked the most runs a team scored in a perfect game.
Something I’m going to remember forever,” German told the YES Network after the game. “Part of history. I felt an amount of pressure that I never felt before.”
The last perfect game in the major occurred on August 15, 2012 by Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners. There had been 40 no-hitters tossed since Hernandez’s perfect game.
It’s been a rough season for Domingo German between a suspension and inconsistent pitching performances. In his last start, the Seattle Mariners pummeled German, who coughed up 10 runs in a blowout loss.
German bounced back with a perfect game in his next start, and fans hope this rare and historic moment can energize the Yankees in the second half of the season.
Rollercoaster Season: Suspension to Perfection
German was not even supposed to be in the starting rotation this season. German was among three pitchers fighting for the fifth spot in the rotation in Spring Training. However, the rotation was decimated with injuries. Frankie Montas, Carlos Rodon, and Luis Severino all began the season on the IL, so German earned a spot by default.
German was flagged by umpires during a game against the Toronto Blue Jays in May for using a sticky substance. The MLB suspended German for ten games.
German struggled since his return with a 2-2 record in five starts. He was lit up in his last two starts and gave up 17 runs (and 15 earned runs) in 5.1 innings. He gave up seven runs in two innings in a 15-5 loss to the Boston Red Sox in mid-June. Last Thursday, the Seattle Mariners tagged German for ten runs in 3.1 innings during a 10-2 loss.
“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.”
After shutting down the A’s, German improved to 5-4 on the season. He has a 4.54 ERA and 1.05 WHIP.
He’s had a rough last couple starts and he’s kind of been dragging a little bit,” said catcher Kyle Higashioka. “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.”
“We’ve seen him flirt with outings like that over time,” added Boone.
German came close to a no-hit bid in 2021, but that was broken up in the eighth inning by the Boston Red Sox.
Yankees History: German with 4th Perfect Game
German pulled off the 13th no-hitter in Yankees history, but it was only the fourth perfect game for the Bronx Bombers.
Don Larsen might’ve pitched the most historic perfect game in MLB history. Larsen’s moment of perfection occurred in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series when he mowed down the Brooklyn Dodgers.
It took 44 years before another pitcher in pinstripes flirted with perfection. David Wells threw a perfect game in May of 1998, which was only the 15th time that happened MLB history. Wells achieved a notorious feat because the hard-partying lefty was nursing a wicked hangover from the previous night before he took the mound in a day game against the Minnesota Twins.
The Yankees only waited one season before their next perfect game. David Cone threw the 16th perfect game in MLB history when he shut down the Montreal Expos in the summer of 1999.
The Yankees waited 24 years before one of their hurlers etched their names in the history books. German became the 24th pitcher in history with a perfect game. He also became the first pitcher from the Dominican Republic to toss a perfect game.
Here’s a fun stat: the Yankees won the World Series in the other three seasons that one of their pitchers tossed a perfect game.
Larsen threw a perfect game during the 1956 World Series, which the Yankees would go on to win in seven games. The Yankees were unstoppable at the end of the 1990s and they won three-straight championships. They won the World Series in 1998 in the same season Wells threw his perfect game. They followed up with another title in 1999 in the same season that Cone achieved perfection.
Betting the Post-Perfecto Yankees
The Yankees are 44-36 and currently in third place in the AL East. They trail the first-place Tampa Bay Rays by 9.5 games. They Yankees are one of six teams on the AL Wild Card bubble, but if the season ended today, they would punch their ticket to the postseason.
The Yankees are in a tough and strong division, and they’ve been bouncing back and forth between third and fourth place. The Rays are running away with the division crown, but three AL East teams could monopolize the Wild Card race. The Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, and Yankees are currently among the top three AL Wild Card teams.
Even though the Yankees are in a tough divisional battle, only three teams in the American League have more wins. In overall MLB standings, just seven teams in baseball won more games than the Yankees this season.
The Yankees had bad luck in the first half of the season with injuries to their starting pitchers and sluggers like Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Despite the setbacks, the Yankees are still in playoff contention.
Yankees are +700 odds to clinch the AL Pennant and return to the World Series for the first time since 2009. The Yankees are +1300 odds to win the 2023 World Series as the sixth-highest team on DraftKings’ MLB futures board.
The Yankees have a 64% chance to advance to the playoffs, according to FanGraphs. They have a 4% chance to win the World Series.
The Yankees are -225 odds to advance to the playoffs, according to a prop bet by DraftKings. If you want to bet against the Yankees, the Bronx Bombers are +190 odds to miss the postseason.
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