SI:AM | Domingo German Makes History

Plus, the latest on the biggest names in NBA free agency.

Good morning, I’m Kevin Sweeney, subbing for Dan Gartland. It was a historic night in Major League Baseball.

In today’s SI:AM:

⚾ Domingo Germán’s perfect game

🏀 NBA free-agency primer

⛳ Developments on the PGA Tour’s future

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Perfection for Germán

Major League Baseball’s first perfect game in more than a decade belongs to Domingo Germán.

The Yankees right-hander retired all 27 hitters in an 11–0 blowout win over the lowly Athletics on Wednesday night, becoming the 24th pitcher to accomplish the feat. He’s the first to toss a perfect game since Félix Hernández in 2012, ending the longest stretch without one since a 13-year gap from 1968 to ’81. Coincidentally, 2012 was a banner year for perfect games, with Hernández, Matt Cain and Philip Humber all becoming part of baseball history.

Germán’s dance with history was remarkably routine. Yes, he was facing an Oakland lineup that entered the day with the worst team batting average, fewest hits and fewest runs in the league. But Germán cruised through the 27 hitters he faced in just 99 pitches, second fewest in a perfect game since Randy Johnson in 1999. He threw 72 strikes and faced just two three-ball counts all night—once in the fourth inning, once in the eighth.

The night’s biggest threat came in the fifth inning, when first baseman Anthony Rizzo had to make a sliding stop on a sharply hit ground ball by Seth Brown. The four-time Gold Glove winner handled the chance and flipped to Germán for the out, and it was smooth sailing from there. The only other threat: long innings. But nothing could disrupt the 30-year-old’s rhythm, as he set down the bottom three in the Athletics’ order on just six pitches.

Germán. HISTORY! pic.twitter.com/ktEZbxZNIo

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 29, 2023

Germán had dedicated the start to his uncle, who had passed away two days ago. He said on the YES Network postgame that he had “cried a lot in the clubhouse yesterday.” He became the first Dominican-born pitcher to throw a perfect game.

This performance largely came out of nowhere. Germán gave up 10 runs (eight earned) in his last start, and before that got shelled for seven runs in fewer than three innings against the Red Sox. In all, Germán has scuffled for the better part of three seasons, struggling to regain the form he found when he won 18 games in 2019 before being suspended late in that season and for the entirety of the ’20 season after a domestic violence allegation.

Meanwhile, it’s another lowlight in an ugly season for the Athletics, whose 21–61 record is the worst in baseball. After a brief hot stretch winning seven straight, Oakland has won just two of its last 13 games and topped three runs just twice in that stretch.

Still, history is history. As Sports Illustrated’s Emma Baccellieri wrote: “There’s no caveating a perfect game.”

The best of Sports Illustrated

David Butler II / USA TODAY Sports

• NBA free agency begins Friday. Chris Mannix has the latest on all the biggest moving parts, including notes on James Harden, Draymond Green, some potential moves for the Celtics to make and, of course, what’s new with Damian Lillard.
  
• More developments in the PGA Tour–LIV Golf alliance, where tour officials are expressing confidence that it controls the future of professional golf.
  
• Emma Baccellieri wrote about another eye-popping Shohei Ohtani performance and the joy that comes from waiting for his next mind-bending outing.
  
• Richard Johnson introduces us to the next star in college football coaching: 28-year-old Ra’Shaad Samples, who’s on staff at Arizona State.
  
• It’s finally Jordan Love’s time to shine in Green Bay after three years behind Aaron Rodgers, and the Utah State product is ready for the moment.
  
  
• Victor Wembanyama is officially 7'3½" without shoes, which is … really tall!
  
  
• Seats to the first 2023 regular-season meeting between the Aces and Liberty are still available—and they won’t break the bank.

The top five…

…things I saw yesterday:

5. The reaction from Blackhawks fans to landing Connor Bedard.

4. Bronny James’s message to the haters on Instagram.

3. Josh Naylor greeting his brother after his first career home run.

2. Taurean Prince finding out from Woj that he’s getting cut.

1. Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson’s hilarious person-on-the-street interview.

SIQ

Yesterday’s SIQ: The Raptors took Andrea Bargnani with the first pick in the 2006 NBA draft. While he had a decent 10-year career, it was underwhelming for a top pick. Who leads that draft class in career games played?

• Rudy Gay
• Paul Millsap
• Rajon Rondo
• P.J. Tucker

Answer: Rudy Gay. He has played 1,120 games in his career. He and Kyle Lowry (third on the list with 1,078 games played) are the only players from the 2006 draft class who are still active. (Gay was just reportedly traded to the Hawks.)

Second on the list is Paul Millsap, who was picked by the Jazz at No. 47 out of Louisiana Tech. He played more games in his 16-year career than all other players picked between No. 37 and No. 49 combined.

The best player in the 2006 draft class, though, was LaMarcus Aldridge. He went second to the Bulls and was the only player selected in the top five (which also included Adam Morrison, Tyrus Thomas and Shelden Williams) to make an All-Star Game. He played 1,076 games (fourth most among members of his draft class) and scored more points in his career (20,558) than any player taken that year. —Dan Gartland