Domingo German perfect game: Yankees pitcher joins exclusive club with 24th perfect game in MLB history

When talking about elite MLB achievements, there are few more impressive than the perfect game.

Achieved when 27 batters are retired in order — with no batters reaching base — it’s one of the rarest accomplishments among MLB pitchers.

Yankees right-hander Domingo German joined that club Wednesday night when he set down 27 Athletics in a row in an 11-0 New York victory in Oakland. His performance is the 24th perfect game in MLB history and the first baseball has seen since Aug. 15, 2012, when the Mariners’ Felix Hernandez blanked the Rays.

Domingo Germán is the fourth Yankee in history to throw a perfect game and the first since David Cone on July 18, 1999 pic.twitter.com/tKtMDvUElX

— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 29, 2023

German needed just 99 pitches in his historic performance. He also joined Don Larsen in the 1956 World Series, David Wells in 1998 and David Cone in 1999 as the Yankees pitchers to achieve perfection.

Before German, the Cubs’ Drew Smyly came the closest to a perfect game when he got into the eighth inning against the Dodgers in April.

Here’s what to know about the history of the perfect game in MLB history.

How many perfect games have there been in MLB history?

With the addition of German, there have now been 24 perfect games thrown in MLB history. Four of those have come from the Yankees.

German became the first pitcher since Felix Hernandez in 2012 to face the minimum and not allow a single base runner. That’s 3,969 days since baseball has seen this feat achieved.