MLB’s First Perfect Game in Nearly a Decade Achieved by Yankees’ Domingo German

June 29 (UPI) — New York Yankees pitcher Domingo German achieved baseball immortality by retiring 27 Oakland Athletics batters in order, pitching the first perfect game in MLB in over a decade. German’s dominant performance included nine strikeouts in the Yankees’ 11-0 victory at Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, Calif.

German displayed exceptional control, throwing 72 strikes out of his 99 pitches. His feat marks the 24th perfect game in MLB history and the first since Felix Hernandez achieved it for the Seattle Mariners on August 15, 2012, against the Tampa Bay Rays. Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox and Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants also accomplished perfect games in the same year.

The gap between perfect games in MLB was the longest between April 30, 1922 (Charlie Robertson) and October 8, 1956 (Don Larsen).

German, who entered the game with a 5.10 ERA and 4-5 record for the season, delivered a masterful performance that resulted in a decreased 4.54 ERA and his fifth win of the season. Yankees manager Aaron Boone expressed his calmness while watching German’s dominance, describing it as witnessing a masterpiece.

The Yankees’ offense was led by right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, who went 2 for 3 with a home run, a run scored, a walk, and three RBIs. Third baseman Josh Donaldson, who made the final throw to first baseman Anthony Rizzo for the last out of the perfect game, contributed two RBIs. Left fielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa also had a solid performance, going 1 for 3 with two walks, a run scored, and two RBIs.

The Oakland Athletics’ starter JP Sears struggled, allowing five hits and seven runs over four innings, resulting in his season record dropping to 1-6.

The Yankees (44-36) and the Athletics (21-61) will conclude their series with the series finale scheduled for 3:37 p.m. EDT Thursday in Oakland.