Oakland Athletics manager Mark Kotsay is well aware that his team didn’t make Domingo Germán’s job difficult when the Yankees hurler pitched a historic perfect game Wednesday night.
After the Yankees’ 11-0 win over the last-place A’s at Oakland Coliseum — where Germán threw the 24th perfect game in MLB history — Kotsay explained that his team couldn’t hit a fastball and failed to make adjustments at the plate.
“He threw strikes,” Kotsay said of Germán. “He pounded the zone. Obviously you don’t not throw strikes when you go nine innings and don’t get a baserunner out there.
“I think overall offensively, our approach wasn’t great. We didn’t make any adjustments to what he was doing, throwing his changeup and his breaking ball until he got two strikes. We hit a ton of balls to the pull side.
“We didn’t make one adjustment to try to hit a ground ball to [opposite field] and that’s what happens when you try to pull soft. You’re going to hit into a lot of ground balls to the pull side and weak contact. We didn’t hit a ball hard tonight.”
Kotsay went on to praise Germán for an “amazing performance,” which he finished in just 99 pitches, with 72 of them strikes.
“Obviously, you tip your cap to the performance,” Kotsay said. “The kid did an amazing job of keeping us off balance all night and we didn’t do a good job of making an adjustment.”
Germán threw a combination of 51 curveballs and 30 fastballs that averaged 92.5 mph with 17 changeups and one sinker.
While Germán was in command all game, the Yankees’ defense was on point.
Anthony Rizzo made a diving stop at first base on a sharp ground ball from A’s outfielder Seth Brown in the fifth inning, saving a hit and Germán’s run at a perfect game.
The right-hander pitched the fourth perfect game in Yankees history.
It’s the first perfect game since Seattle’s Felix Hernandez on Aug. 15, 2012.
The first pitcher born in the Dominican Republic to pitch a perfect game, Germán also became the first player in MLB history to reach that feat after allowing 10-plus runs in his previous start, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.