The New York Yankees\u2019 Domingo Germ\u00e1n pitched his way into the record books Wednesday night, tossing Major League Baseball\u2019s first perfect game in nearly 11 years.<\/p>\n
Germ\u00e1n, 30, allowed no runner on base by any means \u2013 including through a hit, a walk or by hitting a batter \u2013 while pitching all nine innings in the Yankees\u2019 11-0 road victory against the Oakland Athletics.<\/p>\n
It was just the 24th perfect game in Major League Baseball history, and the first since Seattle Mariners pitcher F\u00e9lix Hern\u00e1ndez threw one against the Tampa Bay Rays on August 15, 2012.<\/p>\n
After retiring Oakland batters Aledmy Diaz and Shea Langeliers in the ninth inning, Germ\u00e1n got Esteury Ruiz to hit a grounder to third baseman Josh Donaldson, who made the throw to first base to seal the historic victory.<\/p>\n
Germ\u00e1n, who struck out nine of the 27 batters he retired, stretched out his arms in celebration before teammates swarmed to embrace him.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo exciting,\u201d Germ\u00e1n said after the feat, speaking to the YES Network through a translator. \u201cWhen you think about something very unique in baseball, you know not many people have an opportunity to pitch a perfect game.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo accomplish something like this in my career, you know (it) is something that I\u2019m going to remember forever, be part of history.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Domincan-born right-hander, who is the first pitcher from his nation to throw a perfect game, cited the death of a relative a few days ago as inspiration for his historic performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, two days ago an uncle of mine passed away, and \u2026 I cried a lot yesterday in the clubhouse. So I had him with me throughout the whole game. I was thinking about him \u2026 and it happened,\u201d Germ\u00e1n said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Germ\u00e1n\u2019s accomplishment was a great way for him to remedy recent struggles: He had allowed 17 runs over 5 1\/3 innings in his two previous starts.<\/p>\n
In May, Germ\u00e1n was given a 10-game suspension by MLB for violating the foreign substances regulations, after being ejected from a game against the Toronto Blue Jays for using an illegal sticky substance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just happy for Domingo,\u201d Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka said. \u201cHe\u2019s had a rough last couple starts, and he\u2019s kind of been dragging a little bit. And just for him to do this and get back to being himself \u2013 I kind of always felt out of anyone he has a really good chance to do something like this, and for it to all come together tonight is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The win by the Yankees (44-36) left them 9.5 games out of first place in the American League East. Oakland so far has the worst record in the majors this season at 21-61.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The New York Yankees\u2019 Domingo Germ\u00e1n pitched his way into the record books Wednesday night, tossing Major League Baseball\u2019s first perfect game in nearly 11 years. Germ\u00e1n,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":26460,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\n