New York Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán got off to a fantastic start during Saturday’s game against the Minnesota Twins. Germán’s start was so impressive that Twins manager Rocco Baldelli became suspicious about how Germán was able to dominate the Twins’ starting lineup.
After tossing three perfect innings, Germán was examined by an umpire as he left the field. It started out as a routine pitching check until umpire James Hoye started focusing on Germán’s throwing hand. The umpire lingers on Germán’s pitching hand for a bit and shares a few words with Germán.
But when Germán came out again for the fourth inning, he was checked again. This lengthy second check led to an extremely weird exchange between the umpiring crew and Germán.
Members of both the umpiring crew and Yankees gathered around Germán during the check. At one point, it appears Hoye tells Germán, “You have to wash your hands.” Despite that, Germán was allowed to remain in the contest. As he heads toward the mound, Baldelli rushes out to find out what happened. After not getting the answer he wanted, Baldelli was ejected from the contest.
At some point in the whole ordeal, Hoys also appears to tell Germán, “I told you to wipe it off.”
Germán’s spin rates mysteriously dropped shortly after being told he needed to wash his hands.
Whatever led to the multiple exams didn’t shake Germán on the mound. He managed to stay perfect through both the fourth and fifth innings against the Twins. But lost the perfect game and no-hitter in the sixth inning.
Though he gave up a few hits following the second exam, Germán kept the Twins off the scoreboard. He was removed from the contest in the seventh inning with a 4-0 lead. Germán gave up just three hits and struck out 11 over 6 1/3 innings in the start.
This story will be updated.
