SAN DIEGO — Given Juan Soto’s flair for the dramatic, not to mention his “generational” talent, was there any doubt?
In his first game at Petco Park since being traded from the Padres to the Yankees, Soto hit a monster home run that sparked a three-run spree that led to an 8-0 victory on Friday night.
Aaron Judge hit back-to-back homers with Soto for the first time, Giancarlo Stanton homered for two runs two batters later and the Yankees (36-17) got a big run in the third inning with five runs off Yu Darvish.
In just a few minutes, the three hit home runs a combined 1,249 feet, marking just the second time all three players have homered in the same game.
That was more than enough run support for Carlos Rodon, who pitched six scoreless innings to silence the Padres (27-27), who started a nine-game, 10-day West Coast tour with a bang.
Darvish entered the game without allowing a run in 25 innings, but the Yankees gave up seven runs in 5 2/3 innings, including a home run by Gleyber Torres in the fourth inning for his fourth home run of the season.
Soto, who was booed more than cheered when he was introduced before a sellout crowd of 43,505, went 2-for-4 with a home run and a double (though he gave up an extra base hit in the seventh inning to right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr.) in his return to the city where he spent a year and a half.
The two-run homer, his 14th of the season, was the longest by a Yankees hitter on Friday, traveling an estimated 423 feet and barely moving Tatis Jr.
Two pitches later, Judge hit back-to-back home runs, a 409-foot homer to left field.
It was Judge’s third home run in as many games, his 10th in the last 18 games and his 16th of the season as he continues to perform well in the heat of a sweltering May.
Then, after Alex Verdugo singled off the left-field fence, Stanton smashed a ball into the upper deck of the Western Metal Supply building in left field for his 13th home run of the season.
The 417-foot hit gave the Yankees a 6-0 lead.
Through the Yankees’ first 53 games this season, Soto, Judge and Stanton have combined to hit 43 home runs, more than four teams.
It was exactly the kind of night the Yankees envisioned when they acquired Soto in a blockbuster deal in December and paired him with Judge and Stanton to form a three-headed monster.
It was also a night where Soto felt he didn’t quite show up to his full potential during his time with the Padres.
Soto, who batted .265 with an .893 OPS and 41 home runs in 214 games with the team, had no idea how the crowd would react on Friday.
“It’s kind of tough for me because they’ve been there for me every day,” Soto said before the game. “I tried my best, I played hard every day, but I didn’t play my best. It sucks that I didn’t get to show them how good of a player I am, but that’s the way it is.”
It wasn’t that long ago that the Padres were discussing a contract extension for Soto, as were the Nationals and Yankees.
Soto said he still planned to stay with the Padres this season until about a week before the trade that forced the Yankees to release Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Randy Vazquez, Johnny Brito and Kyle Higashioka.
“It was a little uncomfortable, but at the same time [time]”It’s just part of the business,” Soto said. “I learned that with the Nationals, but that’s the way it is. It’s just a business, so you just have to look at it that way. No grudges or anything like that, but I was getting ready to move back to San Diego. They changed my plans, or at least they changed them permanently, and traded me to a great team and organization. I was happy to be traded to an organization like the Yankees.”
