When Juan Soto uttered his first in-person comments as a Yankee on Feb. 19, the superstar made it clear that he had high expectations for himself and new teammate Aaron Judge.
“It’s gonna be two walks or it’s gonna be two gappers,” Soto said of himself and his fellow outfielder. “But it’s gonna be fun. I think it’s gonna be great.”
The deadly duo certainly looked great while having fun on Wednesday, combining for three home runs in the Yankees’ 7-3 win over the Mariners. Soto did the heavier lifting, smoking two dingers the other way to left field before hearing MVP chants.
While Soto said it’s “way too early” for those cheers, other Yankees had a different take.
“It’s great,” Aaron Boone said. “I love when the Bronx gets behind our guys.”
Added Judge, who won the award in 2022: “It’s incredible. I love it. It gives me chills.”
Soto’s first homer, a two-run bomb, came in the third inning and landed in Seattle’s bullpen after traveling 414 feet at 107.6 mph. His second ventured more toward the corner in left. At 107.2 mph and 369 feet, the line drive just sailed over the wall for a scorching solo shot.
“It’s always good to go that way,” Soto said. “I always say whenever I’m hitting balls that way, it means a lot for me. It tells you my swing is going the right way.”
“There’s not really any lefties that hit balls like that,” Boone added.
Soto now has 13 homers, as well as 40 RBI, a .313 average and a .978 OPS. It’s easy to see why Yankees fans consider him an early contender for baseball’s top award.
“I feel like he’s been locked in all season long,” Judge said. “It’s been impressive to watch. You never know what’s gonna happen.”
While Soto ended the evening with more longballs, it was Judge who struck first.
The captain hit his 14th homer of the season in the first inning. The 103.5-mph, 374-foot jack to right plated Anthony Volpe, who extended his hitting streak to 15 games by leading off with some well-placed soft contact.
“Those two guys have really been leading this offense and really setting the tone game in and game out,” Judge, downplaying his own contributions, said of Volpe and Soto. “So I’m just trying to go up there and do my job.”
Despite a slow start, Judge has the fourth-most home runs in the majors. Only Houston’s Kyle Tucker (17), Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson (16) and Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna have clobbered more.
Meanwhile, Soto and Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani are next up with 13.
Wednesday marked the third time that Judge and Soto have gone deep in the same game. The tandem also did so in wins over Houston on May 8 and Oakland on April 24.
Aaron Boone said the first instance left him feeling “warm and fuzzy inside.”
While Seattle starter Bryce Miller surrendered the Yankees’ first three homers, Nestor Cortes continued his excellence at Yankee Stadium this season. The southpaw entered the game with a 1.27 ERA at home – compared to a 6.75 mark on the road – before tossing five scoreless innings.
“It’s special to pitch here,” Cortes said. “I think Monday and Tuesday, we had a really big crowd, and it’s Monday and Tuesday. I think anywhere else, you don’t have those type of fans out there Monday, Tuesday, regardless of who you’re facing.”
While Cortes wasn’t very efficient with three walks and 97 pitches – he threw 74 through three innings – he struck out six and held the Mariners to three hits while lowering his overall ERA to 3.29.
The Yankees’ rotation has now allowed two runs or fewer over at least five innings in 10 straight starts.
While Cortes kept the Mariners off the board, Cal Raleigh cranked a three-run homer off of Luke Weaver in the eighth inning. Two of the runs went to Michael Tonkin, who walked two batters before Weaver entered the game.
No matter, though, as Alex Verdugo repadded the Yankees’ lead with a towering, two-run homer in the bottom of the inning. He had the longest blast of the night, mashing an Austin Voth fastball 420 feet to right.
“He’s been awesome. He’s been really good between the lines,” Boone said of Verdugo. “There’s just a humorous edge that he brings to the park every day that his teammates feed off of. Just feel lucky to have them in there.”
With the Yankees back in the win column, they’ll look for a series split on Thursday when Luis Gil takes the mound. The young flamethrower has a 2.39 ERA through nine starts and is coming off a spectacular outing, striking out 14 White Sox on May 18.
Luis Castillo will start the series finale for Seattle. The Mariners ace has a 3.28 ERA after 10 starts.