Yankees Fans Rip Aaron Boone Over Confusing Domingo German Relief Appearance

Things have not been good for the New York Yankees for some time this year. They got even more bizarre on Monday.

Not only did the Yankees lose to the Tampa Bay Rays 5-1, but Domingo German tossed five shutout innings in relief, mere hours after he watch scratched from starting the game because of armpit discomfort.

The Yankees wound up starting Jhony Brito instead, who got shelled, allowing five runs over four innings of work.

When asked about the decision to start Brito over German, only to bring German into the ball game in the fifth inning, Manager Aaron Boone offered a cryptic response saying that German was throwing warm-up pitches at 6:15 p.m. to see if he was ok, and it was not the right course of action to start him.

"Not once he goes out to throw warm-up pitches at 6:15. No. Not at that point. You are getting a starter ready. It wasn't in play," Boone added.

Boone added that German was cleared of armpit discomfort after 5 p.m.

The postgame comments by Boone come after he told reporters in the pregame conference the Yankees didn't want to risk further injury to German if they had to pull him in the first inning. Of course, German wound up coming into the game anyway in the fifth inning.

Meanwhile, the Yankees' offense was limp once again, managing only three hits while striking out 12 times as a team.

Yankees fans were furious over Boone's decision to start Brito over German, especially with German cleared to pitch in the contest.  Many fans are calling for Owner Hal Steinbrenner to make changes.

The Yankees (55-51) are in last place in the AL East, -- 3.5 games out of the wild card -- and, as of right now, have been quiet in regard to the MLB trade deadline.

A classic it was. The World Baseball Classic came to a close last night in thrilling fashion. Japan edged out Team USA by a final score of 3-2. To commemorate the series, we've compiled this "World Baseball Classic Championship in 10 photos" gallery.

It came down to the arguably the two best players in the game facing off in the final out. Japan's Shohei Ohtani struck out USA's Mike Trout in the top of the 9th inning to secure the title. Ohtani and Trout are teammates with the Anaheim Angels.

The 2023 World Baseball Classic championship was held at LoanDepot Park in Miami, FL (the home of the Miami Marlins). Twenty countries were represented in the form of professional baseball. A tournament-style competition held over three weeks brought us to just Japan and USA still standing Tuesday evening.

Since its founding in 2006, there have been five tournaments held. Japan now has three titles with team USA being the most recent winner (2017) prior to last night.

Team USA took a 1-0 lead last night, with Trae Turner's solo home run in the second inning. Japan responded with three runs by the end of the fourth. Kyle Schwarber made it close in the eighth with another solo smash. Ultimately, it was not enough with Ohtani on the mound for Japan to close out the game.

The 2023 WBC was a great success. In conclusion, 47 total games were played. Almost 27,000 fans attended each game on average. This year's rendition made up for the disappointment of the 2020 tournament being canceled due to COVID. As a lead in to the 2023 MLB season, we saw the greatest players in baseball compete in exciting fashion.

Here is a look back at the World Baseball Classic Championship game in 10 photos.