With the fire-balling Camilo Doval on the mound, Anthony Volpe on third and the Yankees down one, Juan Soto silenced and stunned the crowd at Oracle Park with a two-run homer in top of the ninth on Sunday.
The blast, Soto’s 17th of the season and second of the game, propelled the Yankees to a 7-5 win. The victory cemented a sweep over the Giants and concluded the Bombers’ three-city, nine-game West Coast road trip on a thrilling note.
JUAN. SOTO. 😤 pic.twitter.com/FzkoEFkRaJ
— MLB (@MLB) June 2, 2024
The scoring didn’t stop with Soto’s go-ahead heroics, as a ground-rule double from Giancarlo Stanton gave the Yankees another run in the ninth. It also gave Stanton 1,500 hits for his career.
Volpe started the dramatic rally with an RBI triple shortly after the Giants failed to turn a double play with Jose Trevino running.
The Yankees took an early lead in the game when Soto hit a 430-foot solo bomb off of Blake Snell in the first inning. The 2023 National League Cy Young winner, an oft-rumored Yankees target as his free agency lingered into spring training, entered the game with a 10.42 ERA. Snell ultimately allowed three earned runs over 4.2 innings before leaving with a tight left groin.
Alex Verdugo produced the other two runs with a double off of Erik Miller, who inherited a bases loaded situation from Snell. That fifth-inning two-bagger tied the game at three, but Dennis Santana surrendered a two-run single to Heliot Ramos in the sixth.
Earlier in the game, Nestor Cortes struggled, starting with an RBI single from Casey Schmitt in the second inning. Ramos hit a solo homer in the third before Schmitt followed with a longball of his own with the bases empty.
All in all, Cortes totaled 4.1 innings, seven hits, three earned runs, zero walks, seven strikeouts and 95 pitches.
The road hasn’t been kind to the southpaw this season, as Cortes entered Sunday’s start with a 6.16 ERA away from Yankee Stadium. He has a 1.12 ERA at home, and a 3.46 ERA overall.
Despite Cortes’ outing, the Yankees still ended their successful Westward journey with a win thanks to Soto, who ended the game a .322 average, the best in the American League. The pinstripers lost just one game apiece to the Padres, Angels and Giants while making their way up the California coastline.
Now 42-19, the American League East-leading Yankees are off on Monday. They’ll start a homestand against the Twins on Tuesday before the first-place Dodgers visit the Bronx on Friday.
Luis Gil, Carlos Rodón and Marcus Stroman are scheduled to pitch against the Twins. Bailey Ober, Chris Paddack and Pablo López are lined up for Minnesota.
