Juan Soto homers twice to help Mets take series vs. Diamondbacks

Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News on May 7, 2025

Published in Baseball

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PHOENIX — Juan Soto has been the subject of much consternation in New York over the last few months, but in recent weeks, the talk about the slugger has hit a fever pitch. Fans from all five boroughs and beyond have been wanting to know what’s wrong with Soto?

As it turns out, he’s just fine.

Soto hit two home runs in the Mets‘ 7-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday afternoon at Chase Field. Jeff McNeil hit an RBI triple, and right-hander Kodai Senga shut out the Diamondbacks over six innings.

The Mets (24-14) took the series 2-1, avenging last week’s series loss to the Diamondbacks (19-18) at Citi Field.

Senga (4-2) struggled with wavering command early on, frequently getting behind in counts. This limits his ability to use his putaway pitch, the “ghost fork.” The Diamondbacks managed only two hits off of him, but he walked five to face plenty of traffic on the basepaths.

A stifling defense kept him out of trouble.

In the first inning, catcher Luis Torrens connected with shortstop Francisco Lindor to catch Corbin Carroll stealing. In the second, Alek Thomas doubled to left-center field with one on and one out, but center fielder Tyrone Taylor hit Lindor, who then threw down to Torrens at home for the tag on Eugenio Suarez. It was perfectly executed and earned a salute from Senga.

In the third, Senga walked two, but Torrens got the lead runner at third on a fielder’s choice for the first out, and a 4-6-3 double play ended the inning.

Senga settled in the fourth, retiring six straight to spare his pitch count and get into a rhythm.

It was just in time for Soto to do what he does best and give the Mets a lead with his sixth home run of the season.

Soto turned on a 1-1 fastball inside and drove it 427 feet over the center field wall. It was an absolute no-doubter that broke a scoreless tie to put the Mets up 1-0 in the top of the sixth.

The Mets chased right-hander Merrill Kelly from the game in the seventh with two runs. Torrens led off with a double and went to third on a ground-ball by Brett Baty. Luisangel Acuña sent him home on a single up the center. McNeil drove a triple to right-center field to score Acuña and end Kelly’s day at 6 1/3 innings.

Kelly (3-2) gave up three runs on six hits and walked six.

Max Kranick took over for Senga in the seventh and got himself into a two-out jam, giving up back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners. But after a long meeting on the mound with pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, he was able to get Ketel Marte to roll over on a slider to get out of the inning unscathed.

Soto led off the eighth with his second homer of the game, going the other way off Jaylen Beeks, sending the second pitch he saw into the left field stands for No. 7 on the season, putting the Mets up 4-0. From there, the Mets would go on to push the game out of reach, even after Kranick gave up a home run to Carroll in the eighth.

Lindor hit a two-run double in the top of the ninth off left-hander Luis Castillo, and Soto drove him home with a fly-ball after the shortstop advanced to third. Ryne Stanek needed only six pitches to retire the side in the ninth.

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