NEW YORK — Juan Soto and New York Mets fans are in a long-term, committed relationship. The love affair, however, has yet to begin.
Soto signed a massive 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets last winter. But he has gotten off to a slow start with his new team, was booed for apparent lack of hustle and seemed to be pouting when he recently struck out in back-to-back at-bats, not swinging once at any of the seven pitches.
Moments like Saturday’s might help build a healthier bond. Soto ripped a double off the wall in right-center field with the bases loaded, driving in the go-ahead runs in the fourth inning as the Mets beat the Dodgers, 5-2, Saturday night.
“He’s still Juan Soto. He’s still an elite hitter,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I don’t think he’s swinging great right now. … But you can see him bearing down a little bit more when guys are on base, and I think when you can’t take care of the bottom half of the order and you start bleeding into (Francisco) Lindor and Soto and (Starling) Marte is swinging it well, things like that are gonna happen.”
A night after doing a deep dive into the rule book, the Dodgers took an early lead when the umpiring crew missed an obvious ruling.
Andy Pages singled with one out in the second inning and Tommy Edman was hit by a pitch to put two runners on for Kike’ Hernandez. Hernandez drove in Pages with a single, Edman going to third base.
Rookie catcher Dalton Rushing got a 1-and-1 sinker from Mets starter David Peterson and bounced it softly into the dirt at his feet, where it caromed off his right shin and dribbled into fair territory. It should have been a dead ball as soon as it hit Rushing but there was no call – and it is not a reviewable play. A run scored as Mets catcher Luis Torrens threw Rushing out at first base.
“It was kind of funky,” Roberts said of the dribbler. “But he did a good job selling.”
The Mets got one run back in the bottom of the second, all after Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin was one strike away from retiring the side in order (something he did just once in his five innings).
Gonsolin hit Jared Young with a 2-and-2 pitch, then gave up back-to-back singles to Tyrone Taylor and Brett Baty to drive in a run.
Gonsolin was not sharp Saturday. He allowed 11 baserunners in his five innings (seven hits, three walks and one hit batter). It cost him in the fourth inning when the Mets loaded the bases on a single and two walks, again with two outs.
“Very upset with the walks,” Gonsolin said. “Don’t walk those guys, potentially that inning looks a lot different. Just need to attack guys.”
Starling Marte tied the game with an RBI infield single that bounced high over Gonsolin’s head. That brought up Soto who started the day hitting .236. Gonsolin got ahead in the count, 1-and-2, then just missed off the plate inside with a slider to even the count.
Soto flashed his $700 million swing on a 2-and-2 splitter, lining it 108.3 mph off the bat and 399 feet off the wall in right-center field. Two runs scored to break the tie. Marte was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
“Yeah, thought I executed a slider really well there. He’s got a really good eye. Barely missed,” Gonsolin said. “But I was pleased with the execution of. Then yeah, just kind of a splitter, thought it was a solid one, just elevated it and he didn’t miss it.”
The Dodgers’ offense went dormant after the early runs against Peterson.
The Dodgers came into the game with the third-best OPS against left-handed pitching (.814), the seventh-best average (.265) and third-best slugging percentage (.484). But Peterson held them to five hits, pitching into the eighth inning. He struck out seven, got eight swings-and-misses with his slider and got 13 ground-ball outs – including three double plays in the middle innings – with his sinker, it matched the longest outing of his career (7⅔ innings).
“There wasn’t much offensive energy tonight, as far as how we were swinging, the at-bats we were taking,” Roberts said.
After Teoscar Hernandez’s two-out double in the third inning, they didn’t get a runner to second base again until the eighth inning when Miguel Rojas walked and pinch-runner Hyeseong Kim stole second. He didn’t go any farther as Mets closer Edwin Diaz relieved Peterson and struck out Mookie Betts to end the inning.
“I think with that with the lefties, obviously, the sinker sped us up, put us on the ground to then open up the sweeper, or the slider that he has,” Roberts said. “And we didn’t get many good swings, our lefties. And then the righties, I think it was just the sinker-changeup-slider combo that we just really couldn’t barrel up.”
The Mets added a run in the bottom of the eighth and Diaz retired the side in the ninth.
“He pitched a good game. That’s pretty much it,” Betts said of Peterson. “We’ve gotten to him, he’s gotten to us.”