Soto, Yanks' 'savage at-bats' secure sweep, keep good times rolling

SAN FRANCISCO -- Juan Soto took three steps and stared toward the visiting dugout at Oracle Park, taking in his Yankees teammates as they erupted in excitement, tracking the flight of a go-ahead home run. He flipped his bat high in the air, thumped his chest and joined the celebration, prancing down the first-base line.

Trailing by two runs in the ninth inning against one of the game’s top closers in Camilo Doval, some teams might have rolled over, turning the page toward another day. Not this one. Soto’s second home run of the game sailed into the right-center-field seats, helping to power a four-run ninth inning and a 7-5 victory over the Giants, completing a series sweep.

“We’re having a great time. We have great moments,” Soto said. “We’re just having fun; that’s all I can tell you.”

The Yankees have won 22 of 27 games after completing a 7-2 West Coast trip. When Gleyber Torres lined Doval’s fifth pitch into center field for a clean single, it marked a plate appearance that -- among several -- would qualify as what manager Aaron Boone described as “some savage at-bats” to end the game.

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“That’s what sparked it, right there,” said Aaron Judge. “You’ve got a guy coming out of the bullpen, knowing you’re going to see 102 [mph], a nasty slider, two-seam. For him to go up there and have a great at-bat, it sparked everybody in the dugout. We said, ‘Hey, let’s go feed off that.’ Next man up.”

Though it would be obscured by Soto’s homer, the Yankees pointed to Jose Trevino’s hustle on the next play as an integral ingredient. Trevino chopped a slow grounder and busted it down the baseline, narrowly beating Brett Wisely’s throw from second to avoid a double play.

“Just give everything I have,” Trevino said. “Obviously, I know who’s hitting behind me and I know how important it is for those guys to get up to the plate.”

The top of the lineup got that chance against Doval, a heavy sequence for any pitcher to handle. Anthony Volpe pounced on a Doval cutter, driving a triple to the gap in right-center field. As Volpe dashed around the bases, Trevino was a turn ahead; “I kicked it into the fastest gear that I have. Don’t laugh,” he said.

Up stepped Soto, and after Judge claimed the spotlight for the first two evenings of this happy homecoming series, Soto would claim center stage in the matinee.

Having already hit a first-inning homer off Blake Snell and dropping a fifth-inning bunt that helped produce a run, Soto barreled a cutter over the heart of the plate, sending it a Statcast-projected 398 feet over the wall in right-center field for his 17th home run.

“That’s what he does. We’ve seen it all year long,” Judge said. “He comes up in big moments, against one of the best closers in the game, throwing it up to 102 miles an hour. I had a nice front-row seat for that one. That was impressive.”

After Judge walked, stole second and advanced on an error, Giancarlo Stanton padded the advantage with his 1,500th career hit, a missile ground-rule double to right-center.

“It’s nightmarish, trying to get through that lineup,” said Giants catcher Curt Casali. “They’re a great team. They’re on a heater right now. I feel like we let one slip away.”

Watching the rally from the clubhouse after his fifth-inning exit, Yankees starter Nestor Cortes said he thought, “We’re going to keep seeing this for a while in the summer.”

“It’s incredible the way the guys come in here ready to work,” Cortes said. “Today we could have easily came in, gone through the motions and gone back home for an off-day. But these guys were in here grinding, battling in the training room and the weight room doing stuff to get ready for this 1 o’clock game. And it showed.”

Charged with three runs over 4 1/3 innings, it was not Cortes’ best day, but he offered his club a chance. Alex Verdugo had a two-run, game-tying double in the fifth off Erik Miller, who relieved Blake Snell when the left-hander exited with a tight left groin.

Then, as they would in the ninth, the Yankees refused to quit.

“I know we’ve got something special in that room,” Boone said. “Where that takes us? We’ll see.”

Judge, the captain, voiced a similar sentiment. Having heard both cheers and boos during this Bay Area return, Judge departed satisfied with a weekend that met expectations as one to remember -- especially that last inning.

“I can go back over the years, how many times we probably lose that game, facing the closer up two runs and go 1-2-3,” Judge said. “This team is different.”