Domingo German doesn't make it out of fifth inning in first start since perfect game

They don’t make too many moments like the one Domingo German experienced last week in Oakland. And there’s a reason his accomplishment was so exceedingly rare.

Perfection is hard to replicate. In fact, in baseball’s 154-year history, it’s been impossible.

A week after throwing his perfect game on the road, German was able to reap the in-person reward for his performance — getting feted by fans at Yankee Stadium Monday night before he ever threw a pitch. He also had his accomplishment acknowledged with a video on the scoreboard before the third inning of the Yankees matchup against the Orioles.

But, like a few before him — David Cone’s 1999 post-perfect game performance included — German was shoved back to reality pretty quickly, too. 

After tossing a perfect first inning, German proved eminently hittable. He allowed three straight singles in the second and gave up three runs (two earned) by the fourth. He was removed with two on and one out in the fifth in favor of Nick Ramirez, who was able to escape the jam without allowing a run. German allowed three runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings with no walks and five strikeouts.

That, though, didn’t mean fans couldn’t celebrate if they wanted to.

About half hour before first pitch, German ran out toward the bullpen to throw to Kyle Higashioka in the outfield — the still assembling crowd cheering as German thanked them, his glove outstretched in the air. When he walked off in the fifth, they again cheered loudly and German applauded them right back.

“I think he really appreciates what happened and his place in history for that,” Aaron Boone said before the game. “That’s one of those things that last forever. He’ll be coming back here and doing signings and appearances and taking pictures with David Cone and David Wells for the rest of his life and that’s pretty neat. He’s worked hard to put himself in a position to have a night like that.”

It was clear, though, that the crowd was hoping for an extra dose of magic: After German retired the side in order in the first, there was an audible “aww” when he gave up a leadoff single to Ryan O’Hearn in the second inning. O’Hearn advanced to second on the play when Harrison Bader had the ball go under his glove in centerfield. Ramon Urias followed with a single to put runners on the corners before Cedric Mullins singled home O'Hearn for an unearned run.

A repeat, though, wasn’t what the Yankees were reasonably looking for. Only one pitcher has ever thrown back-to-back no hitters, the Reds' Johnny Vander Meer in 1938. None of the 24 pitchers to throw a perfect game ever replicated the feat.

Instead, Boone hoped that last week’s performance will help German unlock some untapped potential this year.

“Obviously, the perfect game speaks for itself, but I think, going into that, whatever his ERA was [5.10 before the perfect game], it was higher, to me, than how he’s pitched,” Boone said before the game. “He’s pitched really well for us in the first half. He had two really bad outings.”

Of the four perfect games in Yankees' history, German was probably the most unlikely candidate (Don Larsen, who had lost 21 games two seasons before his World Series gem comes in second). But despite entering Monday with a 4.54 ERA, there’s been a prevailing thought that German’s stuff is better than his career performance, and Boone purported that what he saw in the offseason supported that theory. 

“Hopefully, he’ll continue to build off that,” Boone said. “It should be pretty cool to start the homestand with Domingo back out there coming off a magical night. Hopefully, it gets its proper appreciation and I’m sure it will.”

That it did. It’s likely, too, that German is still processing the enormity of his athletic accomplishment.

“It was something unique and I know they know this, and they’ll be there cheering,” German said Sunday. “I want to make sure I give [a solid outing]. But besides the ovation that may happen or the amount of cheering that may happen, I also want to stay locked in on the game. But it’s going be something. This has just been so incredible.”

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.