Domingo German Throws the 24th Perfect Game in MLB History

On June 28, 2023, New York Yankees right-hander Domingo German threw the 24th perfect game in major league history, retiring all 27 Oakland Athletics batters he faced in an 11-0 victory at the Oakland Coliseum. It was the first perfect game in baseball since Felix Hernandez accomplished it in August 2012, a gap of nearly 11 years.

German threw 99 pitches, 72 of them for strikes. He mixed 51 curveballs, 30 fastballs averaging 92.5 miles per hour, 17 changeups, and a single sinker. He struck out nine batters. No Oakland hitter reached a three-ball count. The Athletics' lineup managed only weak contact throughout the evening, with no ball hit hard enough to seriously test the Yankees' defense.

The game was played in front of 12,479 fans at the Coliseum, a modest crowd for a Wednesday night in a stadium the Athletics were preparing to leave. German's teammates gave him all the run support he needed in the early innings. The Yankees scored five runs in the first three frames and piled on from there, turning the game into a showcase for German's methodical march through the Oakland order.

German was 30 years old and in his seventh major league season, all with the Yankees. He was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, the same city that produced Robinson Cano, Alfonso Soriano, and dozens of other major leaguers. The perfect game made him the first Dominican-born pitcher to throw one, and the first pitcher to accomplish it under the sport's new pitch clock rules.

The accomplishment also gave the Yankees their fourth perfect game in franchise history, following Don Larsen's in the 1956 World Series, David Wells in 1998, and David Cone in 1999. No other franchise has more than two.

German finished the 2023 season with a 5-7 record and a 4.56 ERA. The perfect game stood as an isolated masterpiece in an otherwise inconsistent year. He recorded his 500th career strikeout during the game, a personal milestone wrapped inside a historic one. The Yankees did not re-sign him after the season.