May 23, 2024, 12:21 am ET
NEW YORK – Fifty-one games into the season, Juan Soto is sparking chants of “MVP!” at Yankee Stadium.
“Too soon,” Soto said after his second two-homer game of his homestand led the New York Yankees to a 7-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night and stopped the first two-homer streak. New York’s consecutive losses in three weeks.
Soto hit a full-count sinker into the visitors’ bullpen in left field in the third for a two-run homer and a 4-0 lead, a 414-foot drive off Bryce Miller that hit the back wall on a leapfrog. Soto hit another sinker on Miller’s first pitch of the sixth inning, a 369-foot shot into the left-field stands.
That prompted the “MVP!” chorus from the crowd of 40,224.
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“I love it when the Bronx supports our guys,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Obviously showing his appreciation for him.”
In his first season since the Yankees acquired him from San Diego, Soto is hitting .313 with 13 home runs, 40 RBIs and a .978 OPS. The 25-year-old Dominican responds repeatedly to the admiration and affection of the fans behind him in the right field stands.
“I just turned around and they went crazy,” he said. “I know there are a lot of Dominicans. They all want me to say hi to them. I tried to say hi to everyone, but I also had to focus on the game.”
Soto, who can become a free agent after the World Series, has helped propel the Yankees to a 34-17 record, the best in the American League.
“I’m enjoying every part of it,” he said. “You never know how long this is going to last, so you try to enjoy every second. So I just take it all in.”
Judge, the 2022 American League MVP, loves hearing Soto receive a response from fans similar to what the Yankees captain has long received.
“It gives me chills,” Judge said. “The fans definitely love the show he’s putting on.”
Judge hit a two-run opposite-field homer to right field in the first inning off Miller and is hitting .268 with 14 home runs (11 since late April) and 34 RBIs.
Judge credits Soto for boosting the entire batting order.
“It’s entertaining. It’s fun to watch. It gives everyone behind him a good look at the guys’ pitches, what he’s trying to do that day,” Judge said.
After Néstor Cortés pitched five scoreless innings, Luke Weaver gave up a three-run homer to Cal Raleigh that cut the lead to 5-3 in the eighth. Alex Verdugo hit a two-run homer in the bottom half.
Entertaining the crowd, Judge, Soto and Verdugo cheered in different sections of the stands in a cheering competition during a pitching change in the eighth inning.
“It’s just a good way to draw a crowd,” Judge said. “Make them a little loud, man, they just want to cheer up.”
Soto has 19 two-homer games in his career, but has never hit three. He came to the plate with the bases loaded in the seventh against Cody Bolton but struck out with three big swings.
“I think I went too far,” Soto said. “I was very happy with that.”
He leaves the stadium with the sounds of the fans in his head.
“At the end of the day, they’re part of the game, they’re part of the team,” he said. “They put pressure on the other team. And every time they go crazy like that, the other team feels the pressure.”
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