Hal Steinbrenner already knows how much it will cost to keep Aaron Judge in the Bronx.
The price of doing the same with Juan Soto continues to rise, as the two sluggers hit deep runs two innings apart in the Yankees’ 7-3 Mariners win at the Stadium on Wednesday, with Soto hitting two home runs.
With this win, the Yankees avoided a three-game losing streak for the first time since April 14-16, and ensured they would not be swept in the series for the first time this year.
Judge hit his 14th home run of the year in the bottom of the first inning, giving the Yankees a run. A two-run home run in the opposite direction gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead. That inning came after Anthony Volpe extended his career-high hit streak to 15 with an infield hit.
With this home run, 10 of Judge’s previous 12 hits were extra-base hits, including four home runs.
Volpe singled for his second of the night, then Soto followed with his third run.
Like Judge, Soto took the ball the wrong way and drove it to left-center field to make it 4-0.
Soto hit another home run toward left field in the top of the bottom of the sixth inning, increasing his lead to 5-0 and hitting his 13th home run of the season.
In the top of the seventh inning, when right fielder Soto took to the mound, the fans again cheered for him, chanting “Juan Soto,” and Soto waved his arms to encourage him, adding even more excitement to the game.
Soto had a chance to put the finishing touches on Wednesday’s victory, and when he stepped up to bat in the seventh inning with two outs and the bases loaded, a chorus of chants of “MVP” erupted.
But this time, Soto struck out.
All three home runs by Judge and Soto came off right-hander Bryce Miller, and they all resulted in runs, though they allowed just five baserunners in six innings.
To close out Wednesday, Nestor Cortez was once again impressive at home, pitching five shutout innings as the Yankees’ rotation continued to perform well.
But the usually stellar relief corps faltered, with Michael Tonkin walking two batters in the second inning, and then Luke Weaver gave up a three-run homer to Cal Raleigh with one out in the eighth to cut the Yankees’ lead to 5-3.
Alex Verdugo gave the Yankees the lead again in the bottom of the inning with his team’s fourth home run of the night, a two-run homer into the right-center bleachers.
His 420-foot shot made it 7-3.
Cortez pitched to avoid a walk to the leadoff batter at the start of the game, a double to Dylan Moore in the second inning, and his first hit in the third inning.
Like Clark Schmidt on Tuesday, Cortes saw an increase in his pitch count early on.
He needed 27 pitches to get through the first inning, but left two runners on base after throwing 74 pitches after the third inning.
Cortez retired eight of the final nine batters and was then replaced by Tommy Kahnle, who was out with shoulder inflammation and making his first appearance of the season.
