Aaron Boone felt confident with starter Domingo German entering Saturday’s game on Jackie Robinson Day, saying before the first pitch that the righty was in a good spot against the Twins.
And German delivered.
“I thought his curveball was really good from him today,” Boone said postgame about his starter’s performance. “But he has a power fastball and he used it.
“I think he locked them up sometimes, you know, they’re expecting some secondary [pitches] and he’d sneak in a four-seamer or the sinker in there.”
The right-hander bounced back after two rough outings to start the season, pitching a perfect game through 6.1 innings in the 6-1 win over the Twins. He threw 78 pitches and recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts.
German cruised and benefitted from an early 2-0 lead from Kyle Higashioka’s second homer of the season. Higashioka got the start behind the plate in place of Jose Trevino.
Before German’s perfect game was broken up, he was stopped by umpires in the top of the fourth inning. Umpires checked German’s pitching hand and felt stickiness due to the starter using rosin, a legal grip enhancer used by players, according to the postgame pool report.
The umpire concluded that there were no foreign substances used and requested that German wash his hands to remove the excess stickiness. Questions initially arose regarding the stickiness on German’s hand despite him not being seen using a rosin bag on the mound.
Then, a lengthy delay ensued during the top of the fourth inning after the umpire checked German’s hand and still felt tackiness on the pinky. The crew chief agreed that German’s hand was still tacky, but not as much prior to the requested hand washing. The crew then ruled that the tackiness wasn’t enough to affect the flight of the ball and no foreign substance was being used — allowing German to stay in the game.
“I don’t think we’ve had something like that before,” said Higashioka. “Glad he got to stay in the game and finish it out.”
The ruling upset Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, who got ejected from the game after arguing the decision.
When asked postgame why Baldelli was so upset with the ruling, Boone replied, “I don’t know.”
German told reporters postgame that he feared he would be ejected from the game following the delay.
“When I went back out, the discussion, it was intense,” German said through a translator. “There was a moment there I felt things were gonna get out of hand but I was able to explain and tell them I have a rosin bag that’s in the area of the dugout where I sit all the time.”
The Twins got their first hit of the game after former Red Sox catcher Christian Vasquez singled up the middle in the sixth. No. 9 hitter Michael Taylor singled afterwards — his fourth hit of the series — but Minnesota wasn’t able to convert any runs in the inning.
German was checked again after the top of the sixth and was quickly cleared. His outing ended in the seventh inning, as he finished with three hits, no walks and one earned run. German exited to applause from the home crowd, prompting him to clap along with the fans.
Twins starter Tyler Mahle had a pain-free first inning but failed to pick up a ground ball hit by Franchy Cordero in the second, allowing the Yankee newcomer to reach first safely. Mahle was charged with an error that led to Higashioka’s two-run homer.
Anthony Rizzo’s fourth homer of the season was a shot right over the right field porch and extended the lead to 3-0. The lefty now has three home runs in four games as he took advantage of the Twins’ righties this series.
Twins third baseman Jose Miranda got his team on the board in the seventh with an RBI double to left off of Michael King, scoring outfielder Trevor Larnach.
DJ LeMahieu returned to the lineup hitting leadoff and recorded an RBI single in the fifth inning that scored rookie Anthony Volpe. Volpe got on base after drawing a walk. He then stole second base before LeMahieu’s single.
The 21-year-old finished the day 1-for-2, drawing two walks.
Giancarlo Stanton avoided a hitless day after hitting a two-run rocket off reliever Jorge Alcala that bounced off the wall in left-center field. The lead was extended to 6-1 and Stanton was replaced by Aaron Hicks.
King carried the Bombers through three innings following German’s departure, allowing two hits and striking out two.
The Yankees will get a chance to even the series Sunday with what is expected to be a pitching duel. Gerrit Cole is expected to take the mound for the Yankees and righty Pablo Lopez will take the mound for the Twins.
