Juan Soto’s Right Arm Saves Yankees in Opener
Juan Soto has only been in pinstripes for one regular season game, but, already he is winning over New York Yankees fans everywhere after he flashed his glove in right field at the most opportune time in the Yanks 5-4 win over the Houston Astros on Opening Day.
With the New York Yankees leading 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Astros tried to rally late and steal it from the Yankees. With Maurcio Dubon and Yordan Alvarez on base, Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker laced a single to right-center. With Dubon racing around third toward home, Juan Soto came up with a laser to home plate that took out Dubon to preserve the lead.
After Alex Bregman grounded out to end it, Soto pumped his fist into the air in celebration, yelling “Let’s Go” as he joined fellow outfielders Alex Verdugo and Aaron Judge for a high five.
Talk about an impact player.
At the plate, Soto finished 1-for-3 with a RBI and two walks.
Game Recap:
The Yankees fell behind early, 4-0 in fact, as Nestor Cortes struggled with his control in the early innings. Cortes was charged with four runs over five innings of work in his first Opening Day start.
Fortunately for the Yanks the Astros pitching was no better.
Houston starter Framber Valdez struggled with his control, walking six batters over 4.2 innings of work. In fact Houston as a team walked nine Yankees in the game.
The Yankees scratched out three runs on Valdez in the fifth inning when the righty came apart. First Soto drove in the game’s first run on a single to right. Later, with the bases loaded, Anthony Rizzo was hit with a pitch to plate a run, and Anthony Volpe walked with the bases loaded to score Gleyber Torres to cut the deficit to 4-3.
New York tied it on Oswaldo Cabrera’s solo homer in the sixth. Cabrera was impressive going 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
The Yanks finally took the lead on a bases-loaded sac fly by former Boston Red Sox Alex Verdugo in the top of the seventh.
The New York Yankees and Houston Astros play game 2 of their four-game Opening Weekend Series on Friday.
