Juan Soto finally hits first Citi Field home run since signing $765 million Mets deal then does it again

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.It took until the 16th game — and included some murmurs and groans from fans along the way as a slow start kept dragging on — but Juan Soto finally cleared the Citi Field fence Thursday.And then he cleared it again two frames later.Soto, who inked a $765 million megadeal in the offseason, launched his first homer at the Mets’ home ballpark during the sixth inning of their game against the Diamondbacks, connecting on a Zac Gallen cutter and sending it 391 feet over the left-center fence.He then homered again in the eighth, cutting the Mets’ deficit to 3-2 and giving him five for the season.His first home run trimmed the Mets’ deficit to 2-1, served as just their second hit of the day against Gallen — Arizona’s ace who had dazzled with seven strikeouts up to that juncture.He also snapped a 14-game homerless drought that dated back to April 15, when he homered for a second consecutive game against the Twins.In the eighth inning, Soto then crushed a four-seam fastball from Diamondbacks reliever Kevin Ginkel 399 to nearly the same spot in left-center pulling the Mets within 3-2.Compared to 2024 with the Yankees, this had been an uncharacteristic 30-game start for Soto, but manager Carlos Mendoza kept reiterating his faith in the superstar outfielder.

He hadn’t noticed Soto pressing.The exit velocity — evident again Thursday with a 110 mph groundout in the first inning — hadn’t dipped.And finally, in one swing and one ball that kept traveling, Mendoza and the Mets received a bit of validation....