The way Domingo German played in the spring training sessions to win the Yankees’ fifth job made his first regular season in 19 months a long-awaited one.
But Sunday proved to be more of a madness and not just for the right.
The German gave up a pair of homers in a three-run start, and the Yankees’ quiet quietness offered no help as they fell to the Blue Jays, 3-1, in the opening game’s rubber game at Yankee Stadium. .
The Yankees collected just five hits against TJ Zeuch and a parade of Blue Jays rescuers, going 0-for-5 with runners in the scoring position. The last 11 Yankees fights have been withdrawn in order as they have abandoned the series against a Blue Jays team that is expected to be a challenger this season in AL East.
It had been 564 days since the German took the last mound in a major league match, executing an 81-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy after an incident involving his girlfriend. When he returned to the Yankees this spring, he faced some criticism from at least two teammates and had to address the team to apologize before making the same thing public.
Before being suspended late in the 2019 season, the German was 18-4 with an ERA 4.03. He returned to win a place in rotation with a strong spring training, giving up only two races in 13 innings.
But the German, who received a round of applause from the crowd of 10,066 during the pre-game introductions, needed 68 pitches to go through three innings, allowing three runs in the loss.
After working around a double for a first half of 12 steps, German had problems in the second. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. made a great block, though. After a single from Lourdes Gurriel Jr., German left a change over the heart of the plate, and Randal Grichuk crushed it in the left field for a homer with two runs and the lead with 3-0.
After a short tussle with the defender, Alejandro Kirk finally tucked the ball home. 38 minutes into the game, Michael King had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. But German came out of the half on his own eight pitches later, allowing him to throw another frame before King made it easy for him to start the fourth.
In the fifth half, the Yankees finally managed to run thanks to Clint Frazier’s feet. He led the half with a shot to the shallow right field, coming out of the box to turn it into a double. Frazier then ranked third on Gio Urshela’s fly before scoring on Brett Gardner’s field to make it 3-1.
The Yankees had other chances to hold rallies, but failed to do so, blocking one runner in each half from the second to the sixth.
Meanwhile, King saved the bullpen and kept the Yankees in play. After surviving a base-loaded blockade in his first half, he continued to retreat 16 in a row as he threw the final six innings of the game.