PHOENIX — Juan Soto has been the subject of much consternation in New York over the last few months, but in recent weeks, the talk about the slugger has hit a fever pitch. Fans from all five boroughs and beyond have been wanting to know what’s wrong with Soto?
As it turns out, he’s just fine.
Soto hit two home runs in the Mets‘ 7-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday afternoon at Chase Field. Jeff McNeil hit an RBI triple, and right-hander Kodai Senga shut out the Snakes over six innings.
“I think for the last, maybe, two weeks now he’s continued to have really good at bats, day in and day out,” manager Carlos Mendoza said of his star right fielder. “Good to see him going dead center and then the left on left.”
The Mets (24-14) took the series 2-1, avenging last week’s series loss to the Snakes (19-18) at Citi Field.
Senga (4-2) struggled with wavering command early on, frequently getting behind in counts. This limits his ability to use his putaway pitch, the “ghost fork.” The Diamondbacks managed only two hits off of him, but he walked five to face plenty of traffic on the basepaths.
A stifling defense kept him out of trouble.
In the first inning, catcher Luis Torrens connected with shortstop Francisco Lindor to catch Corbin Carroll stealing. In the second, the Mets executed a textbook relay play. Alek Thomas doubled to left-center field with one on and one out, and center fielder Tyrone Taylor threw a strike to Francisco Lindor. The shortstop turned and hit Torrens on the hop for the tag on Eugenio Suarez. It earned a salute from Senga.
In the third, Senga walked two, but Torrens got the lead runner at third on a fielder’s choice for the first out, and a 4-6-3 double play ended the inning.
“Those are winning plays,” Mendoza said. “They were trying to delay-steal there and it was a good heads up play by Luis recognizing that. I thought that relay play, really good from Tyrone Taylor to get it in, hitting the cutoff man. And then that strike from Lindor to home plate, Torrens applying the tag — pretty complete play.
Senga settled in the fourth, retiring six straight and nine of 10 to spare his pitch count and get into a rhythm.
“Those first three innings were rough; I didn’t have anything,” Senga said through a team translator. “Out of experience, I know that when certain things are not going certain ways, I have quick fixes for that. I was able to find that.”
Senga made some mechanical adjustments that got him back into the game. It was just in time for Soto to do what he does best and give the Mets a lead with his sixth home run of the season.
Soto turned on a 1-1 inside fastball from right-hander Merrill Kelly and drove it 427 feet over the center field wall. It was an absolute no-doubter that broke a scoreless tie to put the Mets up 1-0 in the top of the sixth.
The Mets chased Kelly from the game in the seventh with two runs. Torrens led off with a double and went to third on a ground-ball by Brett Baty. Luisangel Acuña sent him home on a single up the center. McNeil drove a triple to right-center field to score Acuña and end Kelly’s day at 6 1/3 innings.
Kelly (3-2) gave up three runs on six hits and walked six.
Max Kranick took over for Senga in the seventh and got himself into a two-out jam, giving up back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners. But after a long meeting on the mound with pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, he was able to get Ketel Marte to roll over on a slider to get out of the inning unscathed.
Soto led off the eighth with his second homer of the game, going the other way off left-hander Jaylen Beeks, sending the second pitch he saw into the left field stands for No. 7 on the season and No. 4 in the last week, putting the Mets up 4-0.
“That was pretty impressive,” Mendoza said of his opposite-field power. “I didn’t think that ball was going to go. He knew right away with his reaction, and that ball just kept on going.”
“I hit it pretty good, definitely,” Soto said. “I know I hit it over [the left fielder’s} head, and I know I have the power to hit it out that way.”
From there, the Mets would go on to push the game out of reach, even after Kranick gave up a home run to Corbin Carroll in the eighth. Francisco Lindor hit a two-run double in the top of the ninth off left-hander Jose Castillo, and Soto drove him home with a fly ball after the shortstop advanced to third. Ryne Stanek needed only six pitches to retire the side in the ninth.
The Mets finished a six-game road trip through St. Louis and Arizona 3-3.
“Overall the team did really good,” Soto said. “Definitely tough loss in St. Louis, but great that this team could forget about it and just went back out and won here. So I think we’re back on track.”
Originally Published: May 7, 2025 at 6:43 PM EDT