The Washington Nationals were in need of a hero.
They were holding out for a hero 'til the end of the 8th inning.
In need of a little late-inning luck of their own, the Nationals got two aboard on back-to-back walks with one out down 9-8 to the Miami Marlins. Up stepped Soto to face Tayron Guerrero.
And the 20-year-old got the pitch he was looking for: A 3-1, 100.1 MPH fastball.
The pitch came in at -- mph.Juan Soto marked it "RETURN TO SENDER."#ChildishBambino // #OnePursuit pic.twitter.com/2XpVW3SxiY
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals)
May 25, 2019 Soto's three-run homer was his third hit of the night and it gave the Nationals a lead they would not relinquish and a 20th win on the season. The win snapped two losing streaks for Washington: a five-game stint and an 11-game Friday night losing streak dating back to the 2018 season.
Soto is now on an eight-game hitting streak, in which he has 15 hits (eight for extra bases) and is slashing .500/.559/.933 with a 1.492 OPS. During this scorching hot stretch, Soto has raised his batting average on the season from .228 to .281.
Is that good? It is
very good. And it couldn't come at
a better time for the struggling Nats.
Juan Soto is now 15 for his last 30 at the plate. He's reached base in 8 of his last 9 plate appearances. He's the kind of player that will keep the #Nats competitive for years to come.
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen)
May 25, 2019 Not to be outdone by Soto, Matt Adams took Guerrero deep in the next at-bat on another 100+ MPH pitch.
-Those are the two fastest pitches hit for HRs this year, per Statcast. They came in consecutive ABs.-The Nats are now the first team since this started getting tracked in 2008 to hit multiple HRs on 100 mph pitches in the same game or SEASON. Again, they did it back-to-back.
— Dan Kolko (@masnKolko)
May 25, 2019 Juan Soto + Matt Adams,back-to-back HR off 100+ mph heatSoto: 100.1 mph fastballAdams: 101.5 mph fastballIt's the 1st time a team has hit two HR off 100+ mph pitches in a game in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008). It's actually the 1st time a team's hit two in a *season.* pic.twitter.com/qO0hwyFLej
— David Adler (@_dadler)
May 25, 2019 If the Nationals are able to turn around their sub-par start to the season, they are going to need Soto to stay hot. And, hopefully for their sake, whatever has gotten into Soto at the plate can infect the entire team, especially the bullpen.
