Juan Soto saves the Yankees on opening day, a breakdown
What Happened
In the bottom of the ninth inning on Opening Day, the New York Yankees lead the Houston Astros by one run in a close, high-stakes matchup between these AL rivals. The Astros have two runners on base with one out, threatening to take the lead late. Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez steps to the plate against Yankees reliever Wandy Peralta. Alvarez takes a low, away sinker from Peralta, and the runner on second base, Mauricio Dubon, signals to his teammate that it was indeed a sinker. On the next pitch, Alvarez puts the ball in play, hitting a soft liner to left field. New Yankees outfielder Juan Soto quickly fields the ball and unleashes an accurate throw home, where catcher Jose Trevino applies the tag to cut down the runner trying to score from second base. Soto celebrates emphatically, pumping his fist and yelling "Fuck yeah!" as the Yankees dugout erupts in excitement. "Don't run on me," Soto declares, referring to his reputation for having a strong, precise throwing arm despite not possessing elite arm strength. Yankees star Aaron Judge approaches Soto, high-fiving him and saying "Let's fucking go! That's what I'm about." The umpires review the play, but the call on the field stands - the runner is out at the plate, preserving the Yankees' one-run lead. Judge watches approvingly from the dugout, saying "I think I just fell in love. Who is this guy? That's awesome." With two outs in the ninth, the Astros' Alex Bregman grounds out to second baseman Gleyber Torres, and the Yankees hang on for the 1-0 victory. Judge congratulates his new teammates Juan Soto and left fielder Alex Verdugo, saying "I'm going to watch them say hi to each other. Their first Yankees win." As the Yankees celebrate their season-opening triumph, manager Aaron Boone embraces his players, telling them "Good job. Proud of you. Way to go." It was a thrilling, season-opening victory for the Yankees, highlighted by Soto's game-saving defensive play in his first game with his new team.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentThe Astros and Yankees started the season off with a great game.
Yankees are up one run, bottom of the ninth inning.
The Astros have two on, one out, and the Astros have a recent history
of just breaking the Yankees' hearts in these situations.
Brought to you by SeatGeek. Thank you, SeatGeek.
Here's the first pitch to Tucker. It's a sinker, low, and away.
And the runner on second base, Dubon, says,
Yo, sinker? Says, sinker?
And Alvarez is like, Yeah, I'm not looking, but yeah, I got a sinker.
Next pitch, in the zone, and pushed through to the outfield.
Soto picks it up, fires home. Are they sending him?
They are sending him, and he's out.
Oh, my God. Yeah!
Fuck yeah!
Soto's fired up. First game as a Yankee.
Judge comes over. Yeah, come on! Let's go!
Let's fucking go!
That's what I'm about. Don't run on me.
Man, he actually has the most outfield assists in some span of time
because guys do run on him.
Because his arm isn't that strong, but it's accurate on the hop,
and is the tag made?
You can't really see if the glove touches back there from that angle,
but Soto says, Oh, we got him.
Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Don't even check it.
Okay, we're going to check it.
Well, they have this angle, which does it show the jersey ripple a little
from the glove touching it?
I have no idea.
They don't really have a definitive camera angle,
so they can't overturn it.
Judge, he liked that one. Oh, yeah. Jersey ripples.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
The call stands. Runner's out.
Fuck, yeah. Let's fucking go.
Come on. Let's fucking go.
Two outs. Let's go.
Two outs. Verdugo, let him know.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Nodding. Confident. The Soto way.
Look at that. Judge is like, I think I just fell in love.
Who is this guy?
That's awesome. Oh, you got that arm?
Oh, yeah? Oh, I got that arm.
Yep. Yep. Yep, I do.
All right. One more out.
They win the game. Bregman sends out the short.
Colby gathers it, throws it to Glaber.
Yes. And the game's won.
Fucking go. Come on.
Fucking go.
Judge is like, I'm in love with both of these guys.
I'm going to watch them say hi to each other.
Their first Yankees win. Soto and Verdugo.
And Judge just in the background, taking it in.
Like, you should have seen who was in the outfield with me last year.
It wasn't you guys. Good shit.
And then Judge is going to get his captain on.
Watch this. Through the handshake line.
Well, first Soto's excited.
But then Judge is just like, Riz, that's you.
Yeah, that's you, Ozzy.
Yup. That's you, big dog.
Yup. Fucking you, Trevino.
Yup. Oh, yeah.
It's everybody. It's everybody.
And then Coach, Father Boone, come, my children.
Come to me. Good job. Proud of you.
Way to go. Here we go.
Closed. Yup. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.
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