“I told him he was going to hit a home run.”
Juan Soto (San Diego Padres) batted third and started in left field against the Washington Nationals in the 2023 Major League Baseball World Series at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., on April 24 (ET).
Washington is Soto’s hometown team. Soto joined the Nats as an international amateur free agent in 2015. He made his first big league appearance in the 2018 season and will remain with the Nats until early August 2022.스포츠토토
Soto was acquired by San Diego in early August 2022 along with Josh Bell. It was a two-for-six trade. In exchange for Soto and Bell, San Diego sent C.J. Abrams, Mackenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III, James Wood, and Harlin Susana to Washington.
It was San Diego’s first trip to Washington this season. When Soto stepped to the plate in the top of the first inning, the Washington fans greeted him with applause, and Soto removed his helmet to salute them. Soto took off his helmet and greeted the fans. Xander Bogaerts followed with a two-run homer to give San Diego the lead.
Soto struck out in his second at-bat in the third inning, but he completed his multi-hit game in his third at-bat in the fifth inning.
Leading off the seventh inning, Soto took a three-pitch sinker from Erasmo Ramirez over the center field wall. Soto’s home run gave San Diego a 5-3 lead. Bogart followed with an RBI single and Jake Cronenwirth hit a two-run homer to put the game out of reach. In the top of the eighth, Soto, who came to the plate after Ha-Sung Kim walked, drew a walk to complete the four-run rally.
“Soto met with his former teammates and coaching staff before the game and had a message for them,” MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, reported. “I told them, ‘I’m going to hit a home run,’” Soto said.
Soto also revealed an anecdote he had with Washington coach Henry Blanco. “Coach Blanco asked me if I was going to bunt,” he said, “and I told him ‘no’. I told him, ‘No,’ I’m going to look at him after I hit the home run.”
Soto came around to hit the home run, stepped on home plate, smiled at the Washington dugout and then went into the San Diego dugout.