Juan Soto Continues to Do Things Rarely Done in New York Yankees History as Team Wins Again
Juan Soto hit a home run on Friday night as the New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium. With that blast, he did something that's barely been done in team history over the last 100 years. New York is now 14-6 and owns the best record in the American League.
The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night, 5-3, at Yankee Stadium. With the win, New York now has the best record in the American League at 14-6. Tampa Bay dropped to 11-10 in the defeat.
New York was powered by a five-run seventh inning that included a three-run Juan Soto home run, his fifth of the season. Soto has been everything the Yankees could want since they acquired him in a trade with the San Diego Padres this offseason. The lefty is now hitting .347 this season with a 1.068 OPS. It's been even more impressive that he's carried the lineup as Aaron Judge is struggling and hitting only .189 right now.
With the big performance, Soto has joined an exclusive club in team history.
Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:
at least 5 HR & 20 RBI in first 20 games with Yankees [rbi official since 1920]:
Juan Soto
Glenallen Hill
Soto has exactly 20 RBI on the season, and has added one stolen base to boot. Soto's five homers are tied for 12th in the Majors while his 20 RBI are tied for fourth.
One of the best hitters in all of baseball, Soto is already a batting champion, a home run derby champion, a World Series champion (2019) and a multi-time All-Star. He has played for the Washington Nationals in addition to the Padres and Yankees.
The two teams will play again on Saturday afternoon with first pitch coming at 1:05 p.m. ET. Zach Eflin (1-2, 4.63 ERA) gets the ball for Tampa against Nestor Cortes.
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