Juan Soto booed as Yankees top Mets in Subway Series opener
Juan Soto of the New York Mets tips his cap before batting during the first inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Friday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
As expected, Yankees fans booed Juan Soto early and often in his return to Yankee Stadium on Friday night.
Soto had an unexpected answer: He tipped his batting helmet to the crowd as they lustily booed him before his first at-bat in the first inning.
Before the bottom of the first, the always inventive Bleacher Creatures turned their backs on Soto as he took his position in rightfield.
The Soto boo-fest had little to do with the outcome of the first Subway Series meeting of 2025. Soto went 0-for-2 with three walks and the Yankees knocked out a wild Tylor Megill in a four-run third inning en route to a 6-2 victory before a sellout crowd of 47,700.
Soto made the final out on a fly ball to shallow center against Luke Weaver with two runners on. Instead of boos, there were cheers for the Yankees’ victory.
Thus began the first of what is set to be 15 years of visits by Soto to Yankee Stadium, the ballpark he called home for one season before signing a record 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets.
“You’ve got to embrace it,” Soto said. “At the end of the day, whatever they give you, you’ve got to be a professional, you’ve got to take it as a man. I was just enjoying the moment.”
It started at 6:50 p.m., when Soto was booed as he ran out of the third-base dugout to prepare for the game. It continued at 6:58, when Soto was booed during lineup introductions as he kneeled in prayer near the third-base line.
It culminated at 7:10 with a stadium full of boos (except for supportive Mets fans) when Soto walked to the plate as the second batter of the game.
After tipping his helmet, Soto did not swing the bat. Carlos Rodon threw three straight balls, then a called strike, then bounced ball four.
Soto later surprised Rodon by taking off for second base while the lefty was in the stretch. Rodon threw late to first. The throw was dropped by Paul Goldschmidt and Soto steamed into second with a stolen base.
When Soto trotted out to right for the bottom half of the inning, the YES Network — which had a cameraman stationed on the rightfield grass between innings — did not go to commercial. It instead showed Soto’s every move before cutting to the Bleacher Creatures with their backs turned.
Soto pounded his chest as he reached his position. The Bleacher Creatures eventually turned around to face the field.
Soto said he was unaware of the gesture by the fans. He said he tipped his helmet in the top of the first because “we were joking in the dugout that I should do it. I just did it.”
The Yankees took a 4-0 lead and knocked out Megill in the third. The bases were loaded with one out on two singles and a walk when Goldschmidt sent a 65.7-mph grounder up the middle. Francisco Lindor fielded it and bounced a throw that Pete Alonso couldn’t handle as two runs scored. It was scored a single and an error.
Anthony Volpe later hit a sacrifice fly to medium right, with Cody Bellinger sliding in at home ahead of Soto’s three-hop throw.
Oswald Peraza walked to force in a run and put the Mets in a 4-0 hole, and Megill’s night was done. He tied a career high with five walks (four of them in the third) in 2 2⁄3 innings.
“Four walks in an inning ain’t gonna cut it,” Megill said. “That’s basically just what happened tonight.”
Said Yankees manager Aaron Boone: “We always talk about controlling the zone, and it’s really important against them. That was the difference tonight, just being able to be patient and not leave the zone.”
Soto led off the fourth — more boos — by looking at the first five pitches from Rodon: three balls and two strikes. After a foul tip and a foul grounder, Soto walked on a high breaking ball. Three batters later, Brandon Nimmo singled to drive in Soto.
The Yankees got that run back plus one in the bottom half against Max Kranick on an RBI single by Goldschmidt and a run-scoring forceout by Jasson Dominguez.
Soto’s third time up: top of the fifth, two outs and no one on. On the eighth pitch, on 3-and-2, ball four low — the third straight walk for Soto.
Against Mark Leiter Jr. in the seventh, the first pitch Soto hit fair on the night was an inning-ending grounder to short, again on 3-and-2.
In the eighth, after Soto caught a drive to the wall from Bellinger for the final out of the inning, he threw the ball deep into the stands.
A fan threw it back onto the field.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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