NEW YORK — Mets right fielder Juan Soto and Washington Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore will forever be linked.
In 2022, the Nationals traded Soto to the San Diego Padres for a haul that included Gore — and shortstop CJ Abrams, left fielder James Wood, and outfielder Robert Hassell III. Since then, they’ve faced each other 12 times.
Gore has mostly gotten the best of Soto, who went 0-for-4 against Gore as a member of the Yankees last season and entered the game 2 for 9 against the left-hander in his career.
In the Mets’ 5-4 win on Tuesday, it was Soto who prevailed over Gore.
After the left-hander struck Soto out looking in the first inning, Soto returned in the third inning looking for payback.
The next time, Soto worked a six-pitch at-bat that featured his signature stare-down shuffle. On the sixth pitch, Soto hit a hanging slider over the wall in left field to bring the Mets within one run of the Nationals.
Rounding the bases, Soto kept eye contact with Gore and appeared to say something.
“We were saying hi to each other,” Soto said with a smile after the game. “That’s it.”
Gore revealed that there’s a bit of a rivalry between the two of them, but it’s all in good fun.
“We always go back and forth. It’s nothing bad,” Gore told reporters after the game. “He got me. He earned it.”
In the end, Soto went 1 for 3 against Gore, who forced Soto to ground out in his third at-bat against him in the sixth inning.
“I thought they handled it the way they should handle it,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said dismissively after the game.
Soto delivered a 107.3 mph line drive to right field for an RBI double that cut the Nationals’ lead to 4-3 in the eighth inning against left Jose Ferrer.
He wound up scoring the game-tying run on first baseman Pete Alonso’s single, finishing his day 2 for 4 with a home run, double, two RBIs and two runs.
Soto is 14-for-41 (.341 batting average) with a 1.225 OPS, including six extra-base hits (four home runs) in his last 12 games. He has reached base safely in each game during that span.
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Manny Gómez may be reached at [email protected].
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