Soto returns with 3-run HR in loss to Mets
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NEW YORK -- Juan Soto didn’t look like a player who had been dealing with a right knee injury when he made his return to the starting lineup for the series opener against the Mets -- and he wasted little time doing damage at the plate.
Soto got the Nationals offense going in the first inning of their 8-7 loss with an opposite-field, three-run shot off a Carlos Carrasco changeup. He hit the home run on Tuesday night before the game was suspended because of inclement weather in the top of the second.
“He stayed through the ball, once again, to hit a line drive out to left-center field, which is great,” manager Dave Martinez said. “I really like his at-bats when he’s doing that.”
His 19th homer of the season also was his ninth at Citi Field, his second most at any visiting ballpark behind Citizens Bank Park (12). His early-game success against the Mets shouldn’t come as a surprise, either. Soto belted career-best home runs measuring 463 feet and 466 feet at Citi Field last season, and he entered the series slashing .382/.460/.776 with a 1.236 OPS in Queens.
After the suspended game resumed on Wednesday afternoon, Soto added a walk and a pair of singles to right and center field and the outfield. He finished the game 3-for-4, increasing his season batting average to .303 (.373 since the All-Star break).
“He faced [Rich] Hill, hit a ball hard up the middle against a lefty, so that was good, too,” Martinez said. “He’s taking things by stride. He’s going to compete, have good at-bats.”
Soto tweaked his right knee last Thursday while running the bases against the Phillies. He did not play on Friday, and he pinch-hit on Saturday and Sunday before he was cleared to start.
He was cleared to play both games of Wednesday’s doubleheader and was in the starting lineup for Game 2 before it was postponed because of rain. That game will be played on Thursday afternoon as part of a single-admission doubleheader, beginning at 12:10 p.m. ET. Both games will be seven-inning contests.
Erick Fedde is scheduled to start one of the two games, but the Nationals have yet to announce the other starter or which order they will pitch in.