On occasion, whenever I know I have a ballgame attendance on the way, I like to check the ESPN schedule to see if they have the pitching matchup posted yet. In a week and a half I'm catching a game in the Bronx against the Cubs, I wanted to see who we'd be getting. So yesterday afternoon I checked.
As of that very moment, it was looking like the matchup will be Domingo German, who I saw pitch a few months ago, vs. Drew Smyly, who I saw pitch for the PHILLIES back in 2019. Dupes, I thought. Two guys I'd seen pitch already, and one I'd already seen pitch this year. Sometimes seeing someone pitch twice in the same year is cool, I saw two Zack Wheeler starts last year and I'm not especially complaining. But German has been inconsistent and streaky all year, already got caught using tack, and I was worried it'd be more of the same.
Alright, fine, I thought. German it is.
...and then I checked the Yanks score around 11ish last night and my jaw dropped. Was this the same Domingo German we'd been dealing with all year?? How on earth was he doing this. Part of me didn't want to jinx the perfection that #0 was working with through seven...but I just had to know. How on earth could DOMINGO GERMAN, who'd struggled in his last two starts, be dealing like this? Yes, it was against the Oakland A's, but that doesn't always lead to a rout. Earlier this year, Jordan Diaz hit two home runs against us even during a blowout. The previous night, Sean Blackburn and the gang held us to one run. And now with Domingo German on the mound, they weren't doing anything.
I watched every A's at-bat in the next two innings with fingers crossed. If something this inexplicable could start happening, it had to see itself through. The eighth ended without a hit. Then after the Yanks added even more insurance in the ninth, it was down to the 25th, 26th and 27th outs. And part of me was nervous, even if, again, this was the 2023 Oakland A's. Even the last out, where Esteury Ruiz got up, I got a little nervous. Yes, he can't hit, but this is the exact kind of guy that could get us. And German I kept worrying was gonna get tired and do something silly.
But somehow, German tucked the last out away and Oakland exploded. I was in shock. Pumped as hell, yeah, but shocked. How on earth does Domingo German achieve perfection? It's never always the most iconic players that throw perfect games; Dallas Braden and Phillip Humber did theirs. But I'd seen German struggle in multiple scenarios, and yet he sustained perfection through nine on the road. Absolutely incredible.
I don't know what version of German we're gonna get in a week and a half when I catch a game, but hopefully there's more good things on the way.
