Juan Soto on Monday hit two of the Yankees’ five home runs as New York salvaged a four-game series split with a 9-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Soto had his fourth multihomer game this season since coming over in a trade in December last year and the 21st of his career, tying him with Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews for the second most by anyone 25 years old or younger. He hit a solo homer into the third deck in right field in the seventh inning and added a three-run homer in the eighth, and now has 25 on the season.
Soto hit his 24th homer into a suite above the second deck down the right field line and took a 37.7 second trot after hitting a 424-foot (129m) shot to right. He briefly stared at the ball, dropped the bat, raised his right hand between first and second and did a little step at third.
Photo: Brad Penner-USA TODAY
“I’m just trying to make sure it was a fair ball,” Soto said. “I was literally pulling with everything that I have to stay fair. It was fun to see it and I definitely got a hold” of it.
Soto went 11 for 18 in the series, including a four-hit game on Friday.
DJ LeMahieu, Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe also homered as the Yankees tied a season high by hitting five homers for the second time this season.
In Denver, Ezequiel Tovar singled home the winning run with the bases loaded and two outs in the 12th inning to give the Colorado Rockies a 9-8 victory over Boston, handing the Red Sox their fourth straight defeat since the All-Star break.
“A little Michael Jordan flu game for Tovey tonight,” said teammate Sam Hilliard, whose two-run homer with one out in the 10th tied it at 7. “Stud. He wasn’t in the lineup last night because he was sick. He was good enough to play tonight. To get the game-winning knock right there, you could just tell he was grinding. So just the heart he showed tonight was sick, honestly. It was great.”
Jake Cave singled off rookie Bailey Horn (0-1) to drive in Brendan Rodgers with the tying run with no outs in the 12th.
Cave took second when charging left fielder Tyler O’Neill let the ball get past him for an error, and Jacob Stallings was intentionally walked to bring up Hilliard, who sacrificed the runners up a base. After Aaron Schunk was intentionally walked, Horn struck out Charlie Blackmon before being replaced by Chase Anderson.
Tovar had three hits to extend his hitting streak to nine games. Blackmon had two hits, including his seventh homer, and the last-place Rockies won for the fourth time in five games.
“It was going to be a tough loss for whoever lost that one,” Colorado manager Bud Black said. “Our guys endured. Showed a lot of resolve. A couple of big swings.”
Elsewhere, the Detroit Tigers pounced on the Cleveland Guardians for an 8-2 victory, the Pittsburgh Pirates pipped the St Louis Cardinals 2-1, the Cincinnati Reds blanked the Atlanta Braves 4-0, the New York Mets beat the Miami Marlins 6-4 and the Chicago Cubs bested the Milwaukee Brewers 3-1.
The Los Angeles Dodgers topped the San Fracisco Giants 3-2, the Texas Rangers survived the Chicago White Sox 4-3 in 10 innings, the Kansas City Royals dominated the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-4, the Minnesota Twins defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2, the Oakland Athletics shut out the Houston Astros 4-0 and the Los Angeles Angels outplayed the Seattle Mariners 3-1.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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