DETROIT -- It's not easy to hit a home run to center field at Comerica Park, where deep fly balls generally go to die. It's sure as heck not easy to hit two in the same game.

Unless, of course, you're Juan Soto. Then, just about everything about hitting looks easy.

In the Padres' 5-4 victory over the Tigers on Friday night, Soto launched a pair of absolute no-doubters to center field -- 910 feet worth of home runs, to be exact.

“When he squares one up,” said Padres manager Bob Melvin, “it’ll probably go out anywhere.”

He opened the scoring in the first inning with a 447-foot solo shot off the brick backdrop in center. Then, he somehow managed to outdo himself, launching a 463-foot blast to the shrubbery lining the batter’s eye to put the Padres ahead 5-0.

“I hit those pretty good,” Soto said, with a grin. “Just make good contact, and try to drive the ball to the middle.”

Soto’s two homers moved him past Manny Machado and into the team lead with 19 this season. His team-leading OPS climbed to .927. The multihomer game was the 14th of Soto’s career. Only eight players -- Eddie Mathews, Hal Trosky, Mel Ott, Bob Horner, Willie Mays, Boog Powell and Bryce Harper -- had more prior to their 25th birthdays.

As for the prodigious nature of the two blasts: Soto became just the third player in the Majors this season with multiple homers longer than 445 feet in the same game. Minnesota’s Byron Buxton and Atlanta’s Austin Riley have also done it.

“I’m glad I’m not pitching against him,” said Padres right-hander Seth Lugo, who worked six innings of two-run ball.

“I mean, he's one of the best players in the game,” said Tigers righty Reese Olson, who was pitching against Soto and allowed both home runs. “So when you have to do that, and ... not lay one in there, but throw a heater in a hitter's count, it's probably not going to turn out good.”

Therein lies the magic of Soto. Olson didn’t have a choice. Soto worked himself into a pair of favorable counts -- 1-0 on his first homer, 2-0 on his second -- because he simply doesn’t chase. In his third plate appearance Olson threw Soto four pitches outside the zone. Soto was happy to take a walk.

“One of a kind,” Melvin said of Soto’s combination of power and patience. “You know he’s going to take his walks if you don’t throw it over the plate. If you throw it over the plate, he’s got a chance to take you deep. So it’s a pretty good combination.”

Soto has led the Majors in walks in each of the past two seasons, and he’s currently doing so again with 93 in 98 games -- 27 more than Ian Happ, who ranks second. But the funny thing about Soto and walks: He doesn’t actually want to walk. He’d rather swing.

“Definitely, I’ve got to get my pitch,” Soto said. “I try to go to the plate controlling the at-bat. At the end of the day, I don’t try to chase their pitches. I try to swing at my pitches. If I’m swinging at my pitches and I miss them and I get out, that’s fine.”

After Soto’s second home run put San Diego up 5-0, the Tigers managed to claw their way back into the game. When Riley Greene took Nick Martinez deep in the seventh, the Padres suddenly found themselves clinging to a one-run lead. They’ve struggled immensely in close games all season.

But they also haven’t had Robert Suarez all season. Suarez, who missed 3 1/2 months due to right elbow inflammation, made his season debut on Friday and worked a 1-2-3 eighth, before Josh Hader nailed down his 24th save. The Padres were looking for a soft landing for Suarez, who had struggled a bit during his rehab stint. But with a taxed bullpen, they simply couldn’t find one.

“Wasn’t a soft landing,” Melvin said. “Eighth inning, one run lead. But based on what we saw on rehab, it’s a whole different level here. In talking to him afterward, too, the intensity ramps up quite a bit.”

Suarez’s return should be crucial for a Padres team looking to move past its struggles in close games. And Friday served as the perfect example. After Soto’s prodigious power display, they simply couldn’t let this one go to waste.

“Just win games,” Soto said. “We all try to put the stats up there and try to do our best, but at the end of the day, if you don’t get the win, you feel like you’re just working for nothing. That’s what I’m thinking -- just try to win games.”