In his first game at Petco Park since the Padres traded him to the Yankees, Juan Soto crushed a monster home run that set off a three-homer inning.
Considering Juan Soto’s flair for the dramatic — not to mention his “generational” talent — was there ever any doubt?
In his first game back at Petco Park since the Padres traded him to the Yankees, Soto crushed a monster home run that set off a three-homer inning on the way to an 8-0 win on Friday night.
Aaron Judge went back-to-back with Soto for the first time before Giancarlo Stanton clobbered a two-run shot two batters later as the Yankees (36-17) went bombs away on Yu Darvish in a five-run third inning.
The trio combined for 1,249 feet of home runs in a matter of minutes, marking the second time all three have homered in the same game.
It was more than enough run support for Carlos Rodon, who quieted the Padres (27-27) with six shutout innings to kick off a 10-day, nine-game West Coast trip in style.
Darvish had entered the game with a 25-inning scoreless streak but the Yankees ambushed him for seven runs across 5 ²/₃ innings, including a fourth home run as Gleyber Torres later went deep in the fourth inning.
Soto, who was met with louder boos than cheers when introduced to the sellout crowd of 43,505, went 2-for-4 with a homer and a double (while also being robbed of extra bases by right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr.
