After a week of taking hits, Juan Soto came up with a big one.
In a slump that sparked debate over whether he made the right decision to leave the New York Yankees for a record US$765 million contract across town, Soto on Saturday night hit a tiebreaking, two-run double with the bases loaded that led the Mets over the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-2.
“I don’t listen to any of that. I focus on what we’re doing here,” Soto said.
Photo: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images / USA Today
He had been hitting .119 (5 for 42) with runners in scoring position, 164th among 167 qualified batters, before he drove a 2-2 pitch from Tony Gonsolin high off the right-center field wall for a 4-2 fourth-inning lead.
Soto’s 399-foot (122m) drive left his bat at 108.3mph (174kph) and missed being a grand slam by about two feet.
“When I hit it, I was like, just don’t catch it. I wasn’t thinking it was going that far,” Soto said. “When it hit the wall, it actually shocked me. I was like: ‘I didn’t know the ball was going that far.’”
He had one hit in his previous 24 at-bats with runners in scoring position and entered 5 for 40 with no extra-base hits and two RBIs in his past 11 games. He went 1 for 10 with four walks during his first series back in the Bronx as the Mets lost two of three the previous weekend.
Soto’s lack of hustle on Monday last week on a drive off the Green Monster at Boston’s Fenway Park intensified debate over his slow start and the absence of the Soto Shuffle in the batter’s box.
A night after the Mets lost the series opener 7-5 in 13 innings, they fell behind 2-0.
“I don’t know what the underlying numbers are saying, but this guy’s been very unlucky,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It was good to see him finally get the results”
Fans responded to the double with a huge ovation.
“He works his butt off,” Mets starter David Peterson said. “I think for him to be able to get that today should only give him confidence and I think every guy on this team believes in who he is as a player.”
Elsewhere, the Minnesota Twins pipped the Kansas City Royals 5-4, the Atlanta Brave dominated the San Diego Padres 7-1, the Pittsburgh Pirates survived the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1, the Washington Nationals blanked the San Francisco Giants 3-0 and the Cincinnati Reds overcame the Chicago Cubs 6-4.
The Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers 10-5, the Yankees devastated the Colorado Rockies 13-1, the Houston Astros defeated the Seattle Mariners 2-1, the Cleveland Guardians took down the Detroit Tigers 7-5 in 10 innings and the Boston Red Sox outlasted the Baltimore Orioles 6-5 in 10 innings in their afternoon game, before losing 2-1 in the late game.
The St Louis Cardinals defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5, the Tampa Bay Rays clipped the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1, the Miami Marlins beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-2 and the Philadelphia Phillies blasted past the Athletics 9-6 in 11 innings.
Additional reporting by staff writer, with Reuters
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