His initial return to Yankee Stadium out of the way, Juan Soto will aim for a better result when he and the New York Mets visit the New York Yankees again on Saturday.
Soto hit 41 homers last year in his lone season as a Yankee, then signed a 15-year, $765 million contract with the rival Mets in December.
Greeted by boos in the first inning on Friday, Soto stepped out of the batter’s box and tipped his helmet to the hostile crowd. He wound up 0-for-2 with three walks and a run as the Mets dropped the opener of the three-game series 6-2.
The Mets enter Saturday with consecutive losses for the fourth time in their first 45 games. They have yet to lose three in a row.
Soto batted with two on and two outs in the ninth inning on Friday but made the final out with a fly ball against Luke Weaver, ending the night with a .252 average, eight homers and 20 RBIs.
“You gotta embrace it,” Soto said of the treatment he received from the fans. “Whatever they give you, it is what it is. You got to be a professional. You got to take it as a man. I was just enjoying the moment.”
The Mets finished with five hits and went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
The Yankees have seven wins in their past nine games following a three-game losing streak. That skid from May 3-5 was part of a stretch of eight losses in 13 games. Now, the Yankees are seeking their fourth straight series win after getting big nights from Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt and Aaron Judge.
“It was a pretty great environment,” Boone said. “Certainly one of those nights where you can really feel the energy in the building.”
Bellinger collected three of New York’s eight hits, and he is batting .340 (16-for-47) during an 11-game hitting streak to raise his average to .242.
Goldschmidt had run-scoring singles in the third and fourth innings, when the Yankees scored all of their runs.
Judge went 2-for-4 with two runs and a walk, raising his major-league-leading average to .414.
Every player in the Yankees’ batting order reached base at least once.
Clarke Schmidt (1-1, 4.73 ERA), who is coming off his first win of the season, will start Saturday for the Yankees. After opening the season on the injured list with a shoulder ailment, Schmidt was winless in his first five starts before allowing three runs on three hits in six-plus innings during an 11-5 road win over the Seattle Mariners on Monday.
Schmidt is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in two career appearances (one start) against the Mets. He is facing the Mets for the first time since pitching three scoreless innings in a relief appearance to earn the win on Aug. 23, 2022, at Yankee Stadium.
Griffin Canning (5-1, 2.36), making his second attempt at matching his win total from last season, gets the ball for the Mets. The right-hander won five consecutive starts before allowing one run on two hits in six innings and getting a no-decision against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.
Canning has no decisions and a 3.94 ERA in three lifetime starts against the Yankees. He last faced the Yankees on May 28, 2024, in Anaheim, when he allowed three runs on nine hits in five innings.
–Field Level Media
