The New York Yankees' 6-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday afternoon was mired in controversy, as Yanks right-hander Domingo German was investigated by the umpires twice for a substance on his right hand during an outing that saw him take a perfect game into the sixth inning. German stayed in the game after being checked by the umps, something that resulted in Twins manager Rocco Baldelli's ejection from the game.
After the win, Yankees manager Aaron Boone was asked why the umpires, who appeared to ask German to wash his hands, made that request. Boone responded by saying that German had “too much rosin on his hands”, which “raised a flag” for the umpire, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.
Boone added that German, who struck out a career-high 11 Twins on Saturday, generally uses rosin in the dugout– and not on the mound- but that his usage of the pitcher's aid on the mound alerted the umpires.
German, for his part, said that he has never used illegal substances to better grip the ball, though he told reporters that he did begin to worry he would be ejected from the game due to the testiness of his exchanges with the umpires, per Marly Rivera of ESPN.
But German, who has spent all six seasons of his big-league career with the Yankees, avoided ejection, largely due to the fact that rosin is not an illegal substance.
Ironically enough, this isn't the first time that the Yankees and Twins have clashed over baseball's crackdown on sticky substances, as then-Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson had called out New York's ace Gerrit Cole for cheating back in 2021.
One can bet that Twins fans won't soon be forgetting German's outing anytime soon.
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