Juan Soto has hit a lot of home runs in his relatively short MLB career.
On Tuesday, he did something he’s never done before at the MLB level: hit three home runs in a single game. Soto crushed the White Sox pitching with homers in the third, fifth and seventh innings, accounting for each of the four Yankees runs batted in a 4-1 Yankees victory.
White Sox starter Jonathan Cannon got the best of Soto in Soto’s first at bat. Soto grounded out the second pitch and the White Sox came out of the inning unscathed.
Things took a dramatic turn in the third. Cannon let a 94 mph sinker hang over the heart of the plate, and Soto paid the price. Soto hit the ball off the end of his bat for a reverse home run that went into the bullpen, over the left-field wall, to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.
Cannon remained on the mound to start the fifth inning. This time Soto led and worked the count in his favor to 3-1. Cannon’s fifth pitch of the at bat was a cutter that caught the outside of the plate. Soto went to the other field again, this time sending the ball into the left-center field stands.
By Soto’s fourth at bat, Cannon was ready. This time, Soto faced White Sox reliever Fraser Ellard with the Yankees leading 3-0, secured by his previous two plate appearances.
Ellard fared no better. Ellard worked Soto to a full count on five pitches. His sixth was a 95 mph fastball that stayed high and to the inside corner. Soto turned and slammed the ball into the right-field stands for his third home run of the game.
His solo shot extended New York’s lead to 4-0.
Soto ended his night with a five-pitch walk in his final at-bat in the ninth, but he went hard for homer No. 4 on a 3-0 count.
Soto finished the night 3-for-4 with three home runs, three runs scored, four RBIs and one walk.
After a season-plus of relatively muted production with the San Diego Padres, Juan Soto is back in form in New York among the upper echelon of baseball’s most potent prospects. He entered Tuesday batting .302/.431/.586 with 30 homers and 82 RBI in 116 games.
Now he’s added three more home runs, moving ahead of Aaron Judge to form one half of the most dangerous duo in baseball.
