A few hours before Tuesday’s game, Yankees manager Aaron Boone indicated he had no plans to experiment with a six-man rotation when Nestor Cortes returns.
The rehabbing Cortes is still a few turns away from big-league relevance, which means Domingo German likely has a few more chances to prove he belongs as a starter.
If German is on a mission to keep his job, that undertaking took a hit Tuesday.
The once-perfect German was far from it in a 9-3 loss to the Mets in The Bronx, a poor start to the Subway Series for the home team and its starter.
German allowed six runs in six innings, getting burned both by weak contact that found grass and three blasted shots that sailed over the grass and the outfield wall.
Cortes will push someone out in the next few weeks, and it would be German if offenses keep pushing him around.
German said he has not thought about Cortes’ eventual return and how it will affect the rotation.
“Not at all,” German said through interpreter Marlon Abreu. “You focus on what you can control.”
The 30-year-old has allowed 20 home runs this season, tied for the 11th-most in baseball, and continues to frustrate with stuff that is either unhittable or too hittable.
German allowed 17 runs in two mid-June outings.
He bounced back with a stunning perfect game in Oakland on June 28.
He has mostly disappointed since, but disappointed the most against the Mets.
German continued to miss Mets bats and finished with nine strikeouts, but he was tagged for seven hits and a walk. Not every hit was his fault.
He was on the verge of successfully pitching around Brandon Nimmo’s leadoff double in the first inning, but with two outs Pete Alonso perfectly placed a bloop single into shallow left-center, between Billy McKinney and Harrison Bader, to give the Mets a lead they never gave back.
German allowed three more runs in the third, again with a combination of hard and soft contact. He recorded two quick outs before Francisco Lindor sent a bloop into left, where McKinney probably should have caught it.
The left fielder charged, slid and came up empty. The Mets capitalized.
After German walked Jeff McNeil, Alonso smacked an 0-2 pitch into the left-field seats and a 4-0 lead. German blamed the location — a changeup that was meant to be away and ended up inside.
His manager blamed the pitch selection.
“The 0-2 changeup to Alonso, I just don’t think it was the right pitch in that spot,” said Boone, who was happy with German’s stuff — he induced 18 whiffs — but not as happy with the results.
The Mets opened up the sixth with back-to-back blasts off German, Alonso crushing a four-seamer before Daniel Vogelbach demolished a German curveball.
German was done after the inning, and it is possible he is a few outings away from being done as a starter.
The righty is competing with Luis Severino, who has put together two straight solid efforts after prolonged struggles, and Clarke Schmidt, who has pitched well (but could be approaching an innings limit).
Someone will have to go, and German’s case is getting weaker.