NEW YORK – Domingo German was applauded by Yankees fans in his return from a suspension of domestic violence, but struggled against the Toronto Blue Jays, who allowed three runs in three overs on Sunday.
German (28) has not turned up since September 18, 2019 due to a ban on 81 games under the policy of domestic violence in Major League Baseball. He was placed on administrative leave on September 19, 2019, while MLB investigated alleged domestic violence involving his girlfriend, with whom he has at least one child.
He was applauded by fans in the right field after bolting out of the dugout about 35 minutes before the first pitch for warm-up. He cheered more from the crowd of about 10,000 after completing a first innings of 12 points.
The right-hander has a solo homer for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. allowed and a two-stroke to Randal Grichuk in the second, who repeatedly let the ball stand in the striking zone on an afternoon with a temperature of 59 degrees during playing time. He needed 34 stands to get out of the innings.
He still had 22 stands in third place, but escaped without further damage and was replaced by Michael King to start fourth place. King struck out six pointless innings, but the Yankees fell 3-1 to the Blue Jays.
German (0-1) was charged with four hits, a walk and a wild pitch while hitting two. He took the loss.
He returned to the team this spring after being away for the entire 2020 season. He attended compulsory counseling while he was away and said he benefited from it.
German apologized to him early in the camp for the incident, but refused to discuss the events that led to his suspension. He also addressed teammates in group and individual settings.
The Yankees welcomed his return – but with some caution.
“We have his back,” slugger Luke Voit said in February. “But he skates on thin ice.”
German was a contributor to the outbreak before its ban in 2019, going 18-4 with a 4.03 ERA. On the field, he stopped in the spring where he stopped and locked up the No. 3 spot in the rotation of New York by allowing two runs in 13 overs. He hit 17 and started one out of every four springs, but the sharp command he missed Sunday.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone was not sure how New York fans would greet German and said the team did not discuss it with him. Either way, he expected Germans to take care of it.
“Obviously, there will probably be some polarizing reactions he went through, and you have to deal with that,” Boone said. “And he will.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.