Soto’s HR after injury scare swings Yankees win
New York Yankees slugger Juan Soto hit a home run in his first at-bat since returning from a hamstring injury, leading the Yankees to a 4-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Saturday.
Soto, who missed the previous two games with a left hamstring strain, was activated from the injured list before the game. He went 1-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
The Yankees took an early lead in the first inning when Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer off A’s starter Cole Irvin. Soto made it 3-0 in the second inning with a solo homer to right field.
The A’s got on the board in the fourth inning on a solo homer by Jed Lowrie. But the Yankees added an insurance run in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Matt Carpenter.
Yankees starter Jameson Taillon allowed one run on four hits over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked two. Clay Holmes pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, and Aroldis Chapman pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his 15th save.
With the win, the Yankees improved to 74-44 on the season. They are now one game ahead of the Houston Astros for the best record in the American League.
The A’s, who have lost four straight games, fell to 50-68. They are now 22 games behind the Yankees in the AL East.
The Yankees will face the A’s again on Sunday in the finale of their three-game series. Gerrit Cole will start for the Yankees, while Paul Blackburn will start for the A’s.
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