Soto had previously hit 12 home runs at Citi, all for visiting teams.
With the Mets down 2-0, Soto put New York on the board in the sixth inning. After D-backs right-hander Zac Gallen got ahead in the count at 0-1, Soto hit the ball over the left-field wall to cut Arizona’s lead by one. It took Soto 56 at-bats to hit his first Citi Field home run.
Statcast projected the home run distance at 391 feet, while the ball came off Soto's bat with a 106.4 mph exit velocity.
Two innings later, with Arizona up, 3-1, and right-hander Kevin Ginkel on the mound, Soto worked the count to 3-2 and hit the ball to nearly the exact same place in left-center field to make it a one-run game. Overall, Soto has five homers in 2025.
“It always feels good to help the team,” Soto said. “When I’m hitting the ball well [to left field], things start to get better at the plate. I’m starting to see the ball better, deeper. It’s a good sign.”
Per MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, Soto is now tied with Ralph Kiner for fifth on the all-time list with 24 multihomer games before his 27th birthday, ranking behind only Alex Rodriguez (25), Eddie Mathews (25), Mel Ott (25) and Jimmie Foxx (26). It was his 101st career game with at least one homer and one walk before turning 27, which also ties him for fifth all-time.
Entering Friday’s action against the Cardinals, Soto has a slash line of .252/.379/.443 with 14 RBIs and is 4-for-23 (.174) with runners in scoring position. Despite the slow start, Soto said he never felt any pressure to produce because of manager Carlos Mendoza.
“Mendoza has made it clear … he wants me to be comfortable, go out there and play,” Soto said. “I don’t have any pressure at all. It’s just two home runs. It wasn’t enough to get the win.”
Mendoza was never worried about Soto. The skipper kept saying for the last few days that his slugger was close to hitting his stride in the batter’s box.
“He is not only hitting balls in the air, he is going in that direction – left-center. He is a pretty dangerous hitter. It was good to see that today,” Mendoza said.
The Mets then had a chance to at least tie the game later in the inning. They had runners on second and third with one out against Ginkel, but Mark Vientos and Brandon Nimmo struck out to end the threat.
While it is a small sample size, in their last two games, the Mets have gone 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position and have left 20 men on base. Mendoza acknowledged that his team must do a better job in that category.
“Yesterday, there were a lot of different ways we could talk about that game. At the end of the day, we didn’t get the job done,” Mendoza said. “Today, we didn’t create many chances. That’s different. … Other than that second and third [in the eighth inning], I thought Gallen was good today.”
Although they have lost two straight games, the Mets are 13-3 at home. It also marked the first time the team has lost back-to-back home games since July 27-28, 2024, against the Braves.
“I would sign up for it. You always hate to lose a series at home. I understand that is going to happen. We have been playing pretty well. You dated it to July of last year. That’s pretty good,” Mendoza said. “We have to go on the road now. We’ll come back here. We’ll continue to play well again [at Citi Field]. It’s just a couple games we didn’t get the job done, but we are a pretty dangerous team, especially at home.”