{"id":41045,"date":"2025-05-20T10:48:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T10:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/41045\/"},"modified":"2025-05-20T10:48:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T10:48:13","slug":"juan-soto-stands-by-his-hustle-after-more-curious-baserunning-as-mets-plan-to-talk-with-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/41045\/","title":{"rendered":"Juan Soto stands by his \u2018hustle\u2019 after more curious baserunning as Mets plan to talk with star"},"content":{"rendered":"

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BOSTON \u2014 The Mets have sloppiness to clean up, but Juan Soto doesn\u2019t view his level of hustle as part of the problem.<\/p>\n

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For a second straight night, the star Mets outfielder was caught in quicksand running to first base<\/a>. This time it was a shot he thought would clear the Green Monster for a homer but hit the wall, leaving him with a single in the sixth inning due to his late departure from the batter\u2019s box.<\/p>\n

Soto eventually reclaimed the base with a steal of second, but it was poor optics for a player who hasn\u2019t exactly carried the Mets offense, including an anemic performance during the Subway Series <\/a>in his return to Yankee Stadium last weekend.<\/p>\n

After the Mets\u2019 3-1 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park<\/a>, he was asked if he needed to be more aware of running hard to first base.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I have been hustling very hard,\u201d Soto said. \u201cIf you saw it today, you could tell.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A night earlier, Soto hit a grounder to second base in The Bronx and slowed to a jog on a ball that was bobbled. Soto restarted his jets, but was too late to beat the throw.<\/p>\n

Though Soto doesn\u2019t see an issue, manager Carlos Mendoza views it differently.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll talk to him about it,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cTonight, obviously when someone gets a hold of [a pitch] and knows when he gets it, it\u2019s Juan. He thought he had it, but with the wind \u2026 but in this ballpark and anywhere in particular, with that wall right there, you have got to get out of the box. So, yeah, we\u2019ll discuss that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Juan<\/p>\n

Juan Soto #22 of the New York Mets hits a single during the sixth inning of a game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Soto\u2019s hustle (or lack thereof) wasn\u2019t the only eyesore for the Mets, who in losing for the fourth time in five games were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. The Mets have been limited to three runs or fewer in six straight games.<\/p>\n

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Soto, who finished 1-for-10 last weekend against the Yankees, hit into a double play to kill a third-inning rally Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we have got to capitalize as a team,\u201d Soto said. \u201cWe have got to go out there and try to get those guys in. We are doing a pretty good job of getting guys on, but today we have got to come through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kodai Senga rebounded after a shaky beginning to finish at three earned runs allowed on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks over six innings. It marked the first time this season Senga surrendered three earned runs in a start.<\/p>\n

Senga, on a windy night, fell into a quick 2-0 hole. Jarren Duran opened with a leadoff double in the first and Rafael Devers walked before Alex Bregman\u2019s groundout brought in the run from third. Trevor Story delivered a two-out RBI single to extend the lead.<\/p>\n

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Duran\u2019s RBI triple in the second gave the Red Sox a 3-0 lead. Carlos Narv\u00e1ez walked before Duran, with two outs, jumped on a forkball and hit it into the right field corner.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first couple of innings, with the wind and the environment in general I was having a hard time executing my pitches,\u201d Senga said through his interpreter. \u201cBut I wanted to go out there and stay in the game and make it a winnable game. I was able to stay out there for a good amount.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Juan<\/p>\n

Juan Soto (22) hits a single against the Boston Red Sox during the sixth inning at Fenway Park. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Tyrone Taylor\u2019s RBI single in the third pulled the Mets within 3-1. Francisco Alvarez doubled leading off the inning. Francisco Lindor walked following Taylor\u2019s single, but Soto quashed the inning by hitting into a double play.<\/p>\n

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Pete Alonso\u2019s second throwing miscue in as many nights gave the Red Sox a threat in the fourth. Alonso flipped over Senga\u2019s head covering first base on Duran\u2019s grounder, giving the Red Sox runners on the corners with two outs. Devers walked to load the bases before Senga retired Bregman.<\/p>\n

\"Mets<\/p>\n

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n

It was a rough night for Alonso, who smacked a shot off the Green Monster in the first inning but was thrown out as he slid into second base. Alonso was initially ruled safe, but the Red Sox won a replay challenge.<\/p>\n

After Soto stole second following his single off the wall in the sixth inning, Alonso walked. But Brandon Nimmo hit into a double play and Mark Vientos was retired.<\/p>\n

\"Juan<\/p>\n

Juan Soto #22 of the New York Mets reacts after he grounds out in the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium, Sunday, May 18, 2025. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n

The Mets threatened with two outs in the seventh: Jeff McNeil walked and Taylor\u2019s single (which included an error by right fielder Wilyer Abreu) put runners on the corners.<\/p>\n

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After a pitching change, Lindor was retired by Justin Slaten on the first pitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not getting the job done with runners in scoring position,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cAt times I feel like we\u2019re taking real good pitches to hit, being passive, and then at times chasing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Access the Mets beat like never before Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41046,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2375],"tags":[72,5,141,48,2542,226,1443,789,1350,227,604,1332,134,1093,1716,228,4,74,863,89,2543,2100,812,1035,1444,606,142],"class_list":{"0":"post-41045","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-red-sox","8":"tag-alex-bregman","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-boston","11":"tag-boston-red-sox","12":"tag-bostonredsox","13":"tag-brandon-nimmo","14":"tag-carlos-mendoza","15":"tag-carlos-narvaez","16":"tag-fenway-park","17":"tag-francisco-lindor","18":"tag-jarren-duran","19":"tag-jeff-mcneil","20":"tag-juan-soto","21":"tag-justin-slaten","22":"tag-kodai-senga","23":"tag-mark-vientos","24":"tag-mlb","25":"tag-pete-alonso","26":"tag-rafael-devers","27":"tag-red-sox","28":"tag-redsox","29":"tag-sixth-inning","30":"tag-the-mets","31":"tag-trevor-story","32":"tag-tyrone-taylor","33":"tag-wilyer-abreu","34":"tag-yankees"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/114539770966185790","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}