Soto answers week of questions with key 2B in win

NEW YORK -- Juan Soto had one thought cross his mind when he connected on Tony Gonsolin's splitter over the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth inning Saturday night.

"When I hit it," Soto said, "I was just like, 'Don't catch it.'"

Nobody did.

The ball traveled 399 feet, at 108.3 mph, off the wall in center at Citi Field, giving the New York Mets a lead they would not relinquish in a 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers and igniting raucous cheers from a fan base that has patiently waited for Soto to emerge from his funk.

The go-ahead double was just Soto's sixth hit -- and third for extra bases -- with runners in scoring position in 55 plate appearances this season. It was his first extra-base hit in any situation since May 9; he had entered the game 5-for-40 -- all singles -- in 11 games since that day.

The struggles -- plus questions about his hustle and body language over the past week -- prompted widespread discussion about his decision to sign with the Mets and the team's decision to give him the richest contract in professional sports.

"I don't listen to any of that," said Soto, who went 2-for-5 on Saturday and snapped an 0-for-10 skid. "I focus on what we're doing in here."

Soto emerged from the game with a .241 batting average and a .792 OPS on the season. Those numbers remain far from the career marks that prompted the Mets to give him a $765 million contract after his age-25 season, but manager Carlos Mendoza again insisted bad luck has deflated Soto's production and that it's a matter of time before he busts out.

"He's too good of a player," Mendoza said. "I know the player. I know how he goes about his business. I know how he handles adversity. And look, there's a big-time track record there. So, for us to worry about him, like, not really. I mean, he's too good, and we know that sooner rather than later the results are going to be there because he keeps hitting the ball hard. And yeah, it's Juan Soto."

The underlying numbers support Mendoza's assurance. Soto entered Saturday near the top of the leaderboard across the majors in average exit velocity (95th percentile), hard-hit percentage (95th), expected slugging percentage (94th), expected batting average (90th) and expected weighted on-base average (98th).

Mendoza moved Soto down from second in the batting order -- where he batted in his first 48 games this season -- to third for the first time Wednesday, and the manager has kept him there for the past three contests in hopes the shake-up could lead to better results. Soto found them Saturday, marking the 30th game he has reached base multiple times, tied for fourth in the majors.

"Coming through with guys on definitely feels better after so many hard balls hit and everything," Soto said. "Seeing one land, yeah, it's always good."