Yankees waste Domingo German's stellar start, collapse in ninth inning in loss to Guardians
Yankees relief pitcher Wandy Peralta stands on the mound after he walked the Guardians' Mike Zunino to score a run during the ninth inning of an MLB game at Yankee Stadium on Monday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
At this moment in time, it seems as if the Yankees cannot do anything right.
On Monday night against Cleveland, Domingo German was nothing short of exceptional. He breezed through 8 1⁄3 innings, recording 25 outs on 88 pitches, and was in position to make a two-run lead stand up. But he gave up a one-out single to Guardians leadoff hitter Steven Kwan, and the Yankees’ bullpen gave up the lead and the game in a 3-2 loss before 33,414 at the Stadium.
Manager Aaron Boone called on Clay Holmes to get the last two outs, but he faced three hitters and couldn’t get an out. He made a fielding error and gave up a single that loaded the bases before allowing Josh Naylor’s tying two-run single. Wandy Peralta then issued a walk to load the bases before getting a strikeout and walking Mike Zunino to force home the go-ahead run.
“Just thought it was the right decision to do that there,” Boone said. “Obviously it didn’t work, so that falls on me.”
He added: “Domingo was great, but I wasn’t going to let him go back around there [a fourth time] with the tying runs coming to the plate, especially with the Amed Rosario matchup there. That set up well for Clay. We don’t make the play there and it set up the inning.”
Jose Trevino sparked a two-run third inning by the Yankees with a 425-foot blast to left, the longest home run of his career. DJ LeMahieu added a two-out RBI single for the 2-0 lead.
German allowed Kwan’s single in the first before retiring 12 straight. He gave up a five-pitch walk in the fifth and then got the next 13 Guardians out. He allowed two hits and a walk with five strikeouts.
He said through an interpreter that fatigue had not set in yet but that when Boone came to get him, “of course you want the opportunity to finish the game, but at the same time you understand that’s the decision that our manager makes and I’m never going to disagree.”
German looked nothing like the pitcher who’d allowed 10 runs in 12 innings in his previous two starts.
“The biggest adjustment was the fastball command tonight,” he said. “I was able to spot it in good areas and . . . [was] confident executing the curveball and changeup tonight.”
“Unbelievable performance by Domingo,” Holmes said. “It’s just frustrating to kind of come in there and shut the door and . . . bottom line. I just need to be better. I just didn’t get the job done.”
Notes & quotes: The Yankees' offense continues to be unproductive, putting immense pressure on the pitching staff. The Yankees have scored three or fewer runs in 14 of their last 18 games. In those 14 games, they managed only 26 runs and went 3-11.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
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