Mets Erupt for Five in Fifth, Soto Seals It with 435-Foot Bomb

Juan Soto punctuated a dominant New York night with a 435-foot home run to right center in the seventh, and the Mets rolled Kansas City 7-3 on July 9. The story of the game was a five-run fifth inning that turned a one-run deficit into a four-run cushion — and it was messy, opportunistic, and exactly the kind of inning that breaks a pitcher.

Kansas City came out swinging. Lane Thomas launched a 406-foot shot to left in the first to put the Royals up 1-0, and after New York tied it in the second on a Jared Young double that scored Carson Benge, Bobby Witt Jr. answered with a 386-foot homer to left in the fourth. That swing was the biggest momentum shift of the night in the wrong direction for New York — the home win probability dropped from 60% to 40% on contact. For a moment, it looked like Michael Wacha might be able to hold things together for Kansas City.

He could not. The fifth inning was a full unraveling. Tyrone Taylor opened it with a 380-foot homer to left center to tie the game at 2. Then a sacrifice fly from Bichette scored Baty to put New York ahead. Benge singled to center, scoring Ewing and moving Soto to third — and then Thomas, the same man who homered in the first, threw wildly from center field, allowing Soto to score and Benge to advance to third. Alvarez followed with a single to left to score Benge. Just like that, it was 6-2, and Wacha was done, having allowed 6 earned runs in 4.2 innings on 6 hits and 3 walks. The Mets had turned a one-run hole into a four-run lead without ever really hitting the ball particularly hard — they just kept the line moving and let Kansas City's defense do some of the damage.

Sean Manaea was the steadying force on the other side. He went 7.0 innings, allowing 6 hits and 2 earned runs with 6 strikeouts and just 1 walk — the kind of efficient, composed start that makes a five-run fifth feel like a luxury rather than a necessity. Caglianone — who is headed to the Home Run Derby in Philadelphia next week — doubled to right in the seventh to score Loftin and make it 6-3, giving Kansas City a brief pulse. Soto extinguished it immediately with his 435-foot blast to right center, his second run scored of the night to go with his RBI. Benge finished 2-for-3 with 2 runs scored, Young went 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Taylor's 2-for-3 line with the home run looks like the kind of quiet, complete performance that gets overlooked when Soto is hitting the ball nearly 450 feet. New York heads into the All-Star break with a convincing win. Kansas City, it appears, could use the reset.