New York Yankees' Juan Soto Makes History With Another 2-Home Run Performance

Juan Soto made history by hitting two home runs and a double on Monday, lifting the New York Yankees to a dominant 9-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Jul 22, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Juan Soto (22) follows through on a solo home run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium. / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Juan Soto may have gotten off to an 0-for-2 start against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, but the New York Yankees left fielder more than came through later on in the contest.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Soto hit a double to left. He heated up even more when he led off the bottom of the seventh with a 424-foot solo home run to right.

As a cherry on top, Soto crushed a three-run homer in the eighth. That also helped the Yankees close out a 9-1 win, saving a split in their first series coming out of the All-Star break.

Soto's second home run had an exit velocity of 114.9 miles per hour, which MLB.com's Sarah Langs noted makes it the hardest-hit homer of his career.

Juan Soto’s 2nd HR had a 114.9 mph exit velocity

that’s the hardest-hit HR of his career https://t.co/O4HK8KbxmH

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) July 22, 2024

Soto finished the day 3-for-5 with four RBI and two runs. Through 98 games this season, Soto is batting .311 with 25 home runs, 71 RBI, a 1.029 OPS and a 5.4 WAR.

The 25-year-old from the Dominican Republic now has 66 games with multiple extra-base hits in his career.

According to TSN's StatsCentre, that is tied for the third-most before the age of 26 by a player born outside the United States. Albert Pujols owns the record with 70 such performances, while Miguel Cabrera ranks second with 69.

Soto is now tied with Orlando Cepeda on the list. He was previously tied with Andruw Jones.

The slugger's two-homer game also helped him move up another leaderboard in the MLB history books.

Soto has hit multiple home runs in a game 21 times, which is tied for second-most by a player age 25 or younger, per StatsCentre. His two bombs on Monday lifted him over Hal Trosky, who had 20 such games when he turned 26.

Mel Ott tops the list with 24 multi-home run performances.

(Update) Most career multi-home run games by age 25 or younger - MLB history:
24- Mel Ott
21- Soto (Adding a 3-run shot in the 8th to give his #Yankees a 9-1 lead against the Rays)
21- Eddie Mathews
20- Hal Trosky
19- Jimmie Foxx
19- Willie Mays
19- Bob Horner
19- Alex Rodriguez https://t.co/1BayNUxGlC

— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) July 22, 2024

Between both lists, Soto put himself in elite company with his showing on Monday, and he has 60 regular season games to climb even higher. Regardless, being on the same lists as all-time legends and sure-fire Hall of Famers is no small feat.

Soto, who is a four-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger, is set to hit free agency this winter. He has already been traded from the Washington Nationals to the San Diego Padres, then again to New York last December, but this time he finally gets to control his own destiny.

The Yankees have Soto and Aaron Judge in their lineup for at least the rest of 2024, though, and that alone could do wonders for MLB's most storied franchise.

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