Juan Soto gives Yankees rallying cry after latest offensive one-man show
LOS ANGELES — Juan Soto was practically a one-man show for the Yankees on Saturday, with his solo shot off Yoshinobu Yamamoto the lone hit off the Dodgers starter.
His ninth-inning single started the only rally the meek Yankees offense produced in a 4-2 loss in Game 2 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium.
“It’s a tough start, but it ain’t over yet,’’ Soto said of the 2-0 hole.
Soto has been every bit as good in the postseason as he was during his superb regular season in The Bronx, but so far, it hasn’t been enough for the Yankees in this World Series.
He came up with two outs in the top of the third and sent a 105 mph screamer over the right-field wall to tie the game at 1-1.
Soto flexed toward the Yankees dugout on the first-base side before circling the bases, and the Yankees appeared to be back in the game.
Carlos Rodon and the rest of the nonexistent Yankees lineup made sure that didn’t happen, so Soto’s latest October homer was wasted.
Asked why he was the only Yankee to have an answer for Yamamoto, Soto pointed to his first inning at-bat, when he grounded to short on a 3-2 pitch.
“He showed me everything he’s got in the first at-bat,’’ Soto said. “I was ready for anything. He made a mistake and I didn’t miss it.”
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He also led off the top of the ninth with a single off the wall in right off Blake Treinen and scored on Giancarlo Stanton’s one-out single.
With Soto headed toward free agency, there’s no guarantee he’ll ever play another game for the Yankees once this World Series is over. And his price tag, already sky high entering this series, is only going to go up after this showing during the playoffs.
For much of this postseason, it’s been Soto, Stanton and Gleyber Torres carrying the offense, while Aaron Judge and the bottom half of the lineup have come up small.
Soto, who turned 26 on Friday, has homered in three of the Yankees’ past four games, including the huge three-run shot in Cleveland in the 10th inning of the clinching Game 5 win that sent the Yankees to the World Series.
Since then, the Yankees have scored a total of five runs, and Soto has scored three of them.
Of his four homers this postseason, three have given the Yankees the lead and one has tied the game. Soto is just the third Yankees player to have done that, joining Stanton — who’s also done it in these playoffs — and Bernie Williams, who did it in 1996.
Soto is 14-for-41 (.341) this postseason with a pair of doubles, nine walks and seven strikeouts.
If the Yankees aren’t careful, though, Soto’s performance will only be remembered as coming in a disappointing series.
