Domingo German was pitching a 1-hit shutout in the 9th inning, leading 2-0, and about to pitch the Yanks to a win — when with 1 out he yielded the 2nd hit of the game — the first Cleveland hit since the first inning.
German had been CRUISING and was only at 88 pitches.
But out came Aaron Boone to lift him for reliever Clay Holmes, who hadn’t pitched in 4 days.
Holmes didn’t have it. He fell behind every batter, and yielded a comebacker that Holmes himself muffed with a throwing error to 1st, then back-to-back singles for a tie game.
Wandy Peralta came in and walked two batters — the 2nd on a 3-2 pitch that just missed to force in a run. Cleveland 3 NY 2. Ballgame.
The Yanks went out 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th at Yankee Stadium.
“I just thought it was the right decision to do that there; obviously it didn’t work — ultimately that falls on me,” said manager Aaron Boone afterwards. “Domingo was great but I wasn’t going to let him go back around there with the tying runs coming to the plate especially with the Rosario matchup that set up well for Clay.”
Meredith Marakovits did a great job of hammering Boone with a tough question in a polite way: “You’ve obviously used Clay a lot in the 9th inning but he had not pitched in 4 games; any hesitation there in knowing he’s a ‘feel’ guy relying on that sinker?” Boone answered: “No.” And then emphasized, “No.”
The Yanks fall to 15-15, dead last in the AL East, 8.5 behind Tampa. Cleveland improves to 14-15, in 2nd place in their division, 3 games behind Minnesota.
1. German Lights Out
When Domingo German has control of his fastball, and his curveball is curving, he becomes one of the best pitchers in the American League. He has many times flirted with no hitters late into games.
In this game, he was spotting his fastball and his curveball was curving; his off-speed pitches were off-speeding.
“Phenomenal rhythm out there tonite,” explained German through the Yankee translator when asked how he was so effective. “When you’re executing pitches, especially against Cleveland — they have a really good team — first pitch strike is key. Keeping pace and staying within the plan and concentration level were all there tonite.”
“Of course you want a chance to finish the game,” answered German when asked. “But you understand the decision that our manager makes — I’m never going to disagree when he comes out. To me, I have to keep doing my job until that moment comes when he comes out and takes the ball away from me.”
Domingo Germán is on 🔥🔥
8 innings pitched, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts
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2. Trevino Homer
The Yanks got to Cleveland starter Cal Quantrill in the 3rd when Jose Trevino hit a 1-out Homer to left for a 1-0 lead.
Jose Trevino with a 425-foot 💣
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3. LeMahieu RBI Single
With 2 outs in that same 3rd, Anthony Rizzo walked, Gleyber Torres singled to center, and DJ LeMahieu singled in a 2nd run. NY 2 Cleveland 0.
Right back up the middle! DJ LeMahieu tacks on another run! #YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/1OkTFpjEnX
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) May 1, 2023
But after that Quantrill settled down — going 7 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs.
4. Boone and Holmes Blew It
And then came the 9th, with German CRUISING it seemed a done deal. German struck out Myles Straw to start the inning but Steven Kwan hit a hard single to center and out came Boone — yanking German.
In came Holmes and he didn’t have it — starting every batter off with balls, and yielding the comebacker by Amed Rosario that Holmes threw badly to 1st for an error. Then came a single by Jose Ramirez and game-tying single to Josh Naylor.
Wandy Peralta came in and walked a batter to load the bases, get a strikeout, then go 3-2 on Mike Zunino — who fouled off several pitches before a 3-2 pitch was ruled ball 4.
Emmanuel Clase shut down NY 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th for the old ballgame.
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