The New York Yankees pulled off a comeback victory against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday afternoon, rallying in the top of the ninth inning as they deftly turned a 5–3 deficit into a 7–5 lead.
After Anthony Volpe hit an RBI triple to make it a one-run game, Soto came to the plate and gave the Yankees the lead, unloading a 398-foot blast to right center field off of Camilo Doval.
Soto took a moment to admire his moonshot, too. After the no-doubt home run came off the bat, Soto stopped and watched it fly into the stands before taking a step and launching a huge bat flip.
The two-run blast in the ninth inning was Soto’s second home run of the game. He’s now up to 17 homers in his first season in New York as he and Aaron Judge have been putting on a show on a near nightly basis of late.
The Yankees improved to 42–19 with Sunday’s win, and Soto’s contributions to the victory can’t be understated. Aaron Boone commended his performance after the game, too.
“That’s some savage at-bats right there,” Boone said of the star outfielder via the YES Network.
The team is off on Monday before it returns to New York for a series against the Minnesota Twins, which gets underway on Tuesday.
Friday features a jam-packed slate of Major League Baseball action, and there are plenty of ways to bet in the prop market with so many teams playing.
I’ve narrowed down my picks for Friday’s slate to just three, with two starting pitchers and one red-hot hitter getting the nod.
The game of the night on Friday is likely between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, and Yankees slugger Aaron Judge may need to have a big game after Juan Soto exited Thursday night’s contest with left forearm discomfort.
Judge is one of the three players I’m targeting tonight, so let’s dive into the picks for June 7:
Atlanta Braves lefty Chris Sale is coming off a rough outing to open June, allowing eight earned runs in four innings against the A’s, but I think he’s due for a bounce-back showing against the Washington Nationals on Friday.
Sale was terrific in May, allowing just two earned runs across five starts (32.0 innings of work), so I’m not reading too much into his clunker to start June.
The Braves are 8-3 in Sale’s 11 starts this season, and he’s earned the decision in every win, posting an 8-1 record. Prior to his last outing, Sale had earned the win in seven consecutive starts.
Rather than laying the price on the Braves moneyline, I like taking Sale to earn the win against a Washington team that struggles against left-handed pitching, ranking 27th in MLB in OPS.
Aaron Judge OVER 0.5 Walks (-125)
Judge and Soto have been the best duo in baseball this season, but if Soto misses this game – or extended time – Judge may see less pitches to hit going forward.
As it is, Judge has drawn at least one walk in five straight games, and he’s racked 52 total walks in 64 games so far in 2024.
Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto doesn’t walk a ton of hitters (just 14 in 12 starts), but I can’t imagine he’ll look to attack Judge every at bat with Soto likely out of the lineup on Friday.
Judge has been great at drawing walks and getting on base for years, so I’ll gladly take him at this price on Friday.
Griffin Canning UNDER 4.5 Strikeouts (-125)
Los Angeles Angels starter Griffin Canning has a tough matchup on Friday, as he’s taking on the Houston Astros, who strikeout a league-low 6.83 times per game this season.
Canning has cleared 4.5 strikeouts in just four of his 12 outings in 2024, and he struck out just two Houston batters across five innings in his first outing against the Stros this season.
Overall, Canning ranks in just the 13th percentile in strikeout percentage this season, so I don’t see him racking up a huge number on this prop against the least strikeout prone offense in the league.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto unleashed a mammoth home run during Tuesday's loss against the Baltimore Orioles, and he boldly opted to stare down pitcher Dean Kremer as he began to trot the bases.
When asked after the game about the staredown with the Orioles' starter, Soto told reporters that he chose to glare at Kremer because the right-hander didn't like his "Soto Shuffle."
Soto's sixth-inning solo launched a stunning 447 feet into the seats in left field, and he was clearly fired up about the moonshot despite the Yankees still trailing 4–2, a scoreline that would hold out for the remainder of the game.
If Kremer wasn't a fan of Soto's antics in the batter's box, he's certainly not alone, though the left-handed slugger doesn't seem likely to put an end to his shuffling maneuvers.
The 447-foot bomb was Soto's eighth of the year, and he's up to 25 RBIs on the campaign through his first 31 games.
Last year, a promotional giveaway item featured Aaron Judge's already iconic No. 99 on the back of a basketball jersey, and fans went wild for it. This year, the New York Yankees wisely went back to the same giveaway with two big changes: This year, it's white with blue pinstripes (last year's giveaway was blue with white stripes) and it features their newest star: Juan Soto.
The giveaway is on Wednesday this week for the team's night game against the Minnesota Twins, but before Tuesday's game, Soto was doing his part to generate some excitement for it, as he was seen warming up in the jersey:
The Yankees had a feeling Soto would be good enough to create some hype for this giveaway, but even the most optimistic projection may not have had him being this good so early in the season. His OPS+ is 189 going into Tuesday night's series opener, bested only by one player in MLB: Aaron Judge (200).
While Soto undoubtedly maxes out the swag factor of such a jersey, fans are excited to try their hand at looking just as cool wearing it:
The giveaway is sponsored by Canon and limited to the first 18,000 guests on Wednesday, according to the Yankees. Save for a George Costanza bobblehead later this season, there may be no giveaway as anticipated as this one in the Bronx this season.
