New York Yankees slugger Juan Soto on Saturday committed a baserunning blunder during a critical juncture against the Boston Red Sox.
The Yankees trailed 8-6 in the top of the 8th inning at Fenway Park in Boston, Mass. With Alex Verdugo at first and one out, Soto drew a walk to put a man in scoring position for Aaron Judge.
Red Sox reliever Zack Kelly threw a 1-2 fastball to Judge that caught way too much of the plate. Judge smacked the ball to center field for a double. Verdugo easily scored. But Red Sox center fielder Jarren Duran was able to relay the ball quickly to shortstop Ceddanne Rafaela, who gunned down Soto at the plate.
Juan Soto runs through a stop sign and is tagged out at the plate to preserve the @RedSox lead pic.twitter.com/dkQVYlJQX3
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 28, 2024
Instead of having runners on second and third with one out, Soto’s blunder led to the Yankees’ second out of the inning. Austin Wells flew out three pitches later to keep the Yankees down 8-7.
In an alternate angle of the play, Soto was seen running right past the stop sign put up by Yankees third base coach Luis Rojas. Soto may not have been able to pick up Rojas, who was far down the baseline as the play unfolded.
Even Juan Soto is doing blatantly bad things. New rock bottom has been achieved pic.twitter.com/pIHJgp9K5i
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) July 28, 2024
Fortunately for the Yankees, Soto’s baserunning mistake didn’t prove to be fatal for their comeback hopes. The visitors scored a game-tying run against Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen in the top of the 9th and eventually won 11-8 in extra innings.
Rojas wasn’t the only third base coach to run into trouble during Saturday’s contest. The Red Sox had committed an even worse baserunning mistake at third earlier in the game.
