Soto’s Mets take early lead over Yankees; Chicago blasts eight homers

In a showdown between Dominican sluggers, the New York Mets took the first game of the series against their crosstown rivals, the Yankees, with a 6–5 win on Friday. Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs set a new franchise record by hitting eight home runs.

In Queens, Dominican standout Juan Soto delivered a key performance for the Mets, helping to overshadow the impressive showing of rising star Jasson Domínguez.

Promising 22-year-old Jasson Domínguez hit two home runs and drove in three runs, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Yankees from suffering their fifth straight loss.

Soto, meanwhile, hit a two-run homer that helped neutralize the early blasts by Domínguez and Aaron Judge.

All three home runs came in the first inning at Citi Field, where 41,000 fans enjoyed an electrifying showdown on the Fourth of July holiday.

The visitors regained the lead with home runs from Cody Bellinger and Jasson Domínguez, but Brett Baty and Jeff McNeil responded with their own homers to secure the win for the Mets in the opener of the so-called Subway Series.

Chicago also unleashed a barrage of hits in the Cubs’ 11–3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

The home crowd celebrated a new team home run record, with a total of eight homers—six of them coming in the first three innings.

Three of the homers came off the bat of American Michael Busch, who drove in a total of five runs.

From Seattle, Cal Raleigh joined the party with two home runs, bringing his total to 35 for the year.