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Try it freeIt took until the 16th game — and included some murmurs and groans from fans along the way as a slow start kept dragging on — but Juan Soto finally cleared the Citi Field fence Thursday.
Soto, who inked a $765 million megadeal in the offseason, launched his first homer at the Mets’ home ballpark during the sixth inning of their game against the Diamondbacks, connecting on a Zac Gallen cutter and sending it 391 feet over the left-center fence to trim.
It trimmed the Mets’ deficit to 2-1, served as just their second hit of the day against Gallen — Arizona’s ace who had dazzled with seven strikeouts up to that juncture — and marked just the fourth homer of the campaign for Soto.
He also snapped a 14-game homerless drought that dated back to April 15, when he homered for a second consecutive game against the Twins.
Soto, hitting .246 after that at-bat, was recognized by the public address announcer afterward for hitting his first Citi Field homer as a Met.
Compared to 2024 with the Yankees, this had been an uncharacteristic 30-game start for Soto, but manager Carlos Mendoza kept reiterating his faith in the superstar outfielder. He hadn’t noticed Soto pressing. The exit velocity — evident again Thursday with a 110 mph groundout in the first inning — hadn’t dipped.
And finally, in one swing and one ball that kept traveling, Mendoza and the Mets received a bit of validation.