MLB News & Moments You Should Know – 6/29/23

Stay updated on everything baseball with our morning MLB News & Moments articles. We’ve got you covered to keep you in the know.

Today’s Headlines

Perfectomingo

Domingo Germán threw a 99-pitch perfect game against the Oakland A’s last night. I have no idea what commentary to even add to this.

Germán. HISTORY! pic.twitter.com/ktEZbxZNIo

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

This is the 24th Perfect Game in MLB history, the fourth in Yankees history, and the first since Félix Hernández threw one in 2012. Germán’s eaten a 10-game suspension this year for a foreign substance violation. He’s given up 15 earned runs over 5.1 innings across his last two starts prior to last night. He served an 81-game suspension under the league’s domestic violence policy back in 2020. He dedicated the game to his uncle who recently passed away. And now he joins a very, very short list among some of the greatest players to ever set foot on the field, and he’s the first Dominican-born player to do so.

I don’t really know how I should feel about it in total, to be honest. Glad the Yankees didn’t lose two in a row to the A’s, mostly, I guess.

A Battle For The Ages

MJ Melendez and Logan Allen go back a ways…

MJ Melendez & Logan Allen played baseball together from when they were five years old until they were 18.

They’ve *never* faced each other… until tonight!

Allen starts tonight for the @CleGuardians. Melendez bats 5th & plays RF for the @Royals.

(📸: @mjmelendez7 / IG) pic.twitter.com/xpnyifWQ8T

— Jake Eisenberg (@JakeEisenberg_) June 28, 2023

It ended up not being much of a start to remember for Allen, as it took him 98 pitches to battle through only 3.2 innings, although he only gave up three hits, two walks, and no runs to go with a quintet of punchouts. Melendez, meanwhile, went 1-for-4 with a strikeout of his own.

I guess it is Logan who gets the last laugh, though, as the Guardians went on to trounce the Royals 14-1, which also featured a nice first…

Bolololololo

Bo Naylor goes DEEP for the first time in The Show!

MLB's No. 40 prospect swats a 106.9 mph 🚀 for the @CleGuardians: pic.twitter.com/SOZaVCixfr

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 29, 2023

You know when Bo Naylor does a good thing there’s gonna for sure be one dude at the top of the dugout steps waiting for him:

HUG ME, BROTHER!#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/s4m8oR3IRF

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) June 29, 2023

You love to see it.

Triolololololo

But wait, Bo wasn’t the only rookie whose on-field first let me make a truly strained Age Of Empires reference!

Jared Triolo's first big league hit! pic.twitter.com/yjHRf12BkT

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) June 29, 2023

Something about rookie firsts last night seemed to really propel the team, as the Pirates ended up downing the Padres 7-1 behind another Mitch Keller gem. Jared Triolo’s the latest of several rookies the Pirates have called up over the last couple of weeks, and he probably won’t be the last as they try to see what they’re made of in this chunk of season before any trade talks really descend.

Vulgar Displays Of Power

Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani hit back-to-back triples as the Angels went on to fall to the White Sox, 11-5.

And part of that defeat came directly at the hands of Luis “La Pantera” Robert Jr.

Talk about hot.

Luis Robert Jr. has 5 homers in his last 5 games. pic.twitter.com/HIGEph98az

— MLB (@MLB) June 29, 2023

When you’re hot, you’re hot, and right now Robert Jr. is white hot.

Making The Most Of The Night

It was uh, not Detroit’s night on Wednesday, as they fell 10-2 to the Texas Rangers. Dane Dunning was stellar, throwing 8.2 innings, with four hits, two runs (both earned), nary a walk, and 10 strikeouts. He gave up a single dinger, in this case to Kerry Carpenter, and Detroit chose to look on the bright side.

pic.twitter.com/ZfZaEKYdGK

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) June 29, 2023

And when it came time to post up the final score, they chose to highlight the man who finished the game with 1.1 clean innings that came with a strikeout and only one hit. That man being Jonathan Schoop, of course.

pic.twitter.com/VYeaGr1qLJ

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) June 29, 2023

Hey, there’s always tomorrow’s game, right?

Best Moments From Yesterday

Yunit0-ed States Citizen

Hot on the heels of newly minted US citizen Eduardo Escobar, today it was Arizona LF Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s turn to be sworn in.

A huge congratulations to @yunitogurriel on being sworn in as an American citizen! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/xWJQRsDdfW

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) June 29, 2023

Cronenwhat?

I understand the urge to clear a path to the plate, especially given the uh, interesting, calls around the catcher lately, but Jake Cronenworth may have wanted to be a little less obtrusive when he went to grab the bat as Fernando Tatis Jr. came screaming home:

Um, what are you doing Cronenworth??? pic.twitter.com/IDvj4hr6v4

— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) June 29, 2023

And in case you just felt a weird sense of deja vu, let Rob Friedman provide you with the historical parallel:

Jake Cronenworth doing his best Darren Baker imitation. pic.twitter.com/dRnNE3ip5D

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 29, 2023

Awwww

On Tuesday, Kevin Gausman threw six innings of one-run ball with 12 Ks to break 1500 career strikeouts. On Wednesday, he only caught one pitch, but it was a pretty adorable one thrown by his own daughter Sadie.