NEW YORK (AP) — Juan Soto stopped his slump with flair, joining Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge to make the New York Yankees the first team this season with a trio of double-digit home run hitters.
“It tells how much damage we can do,” Soto said after his first multihomer game for New York powered the Yankees over the Chicago White Sox 6-1 on Saturday for their first six-game winning streak since September 2022.
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NEW YORK (AP) — Juan Soto stopped his slump with flair, joining Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge to make the New York Yankees the first team this season with a trio of double-digit home run hitters.
New York Yankees' Juan Soto flips his bat after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. The Yankees won 6-1. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees' Juan Soto celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. The Yankees won 6-1. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees' Juan Soto celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. The Yankees won 6-1. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees' Juan Soto, right, celebrates with third base coach Luis Rojas as he runs the bases after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
In this image taken with a slow shutter speed, New York Yankees' Juan Soto runs the bases after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees' Juan Soto hits a single during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. The Yankees won 6-1. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees' Juan Soto hits a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
A day after his batting average briefly dipped below .300, Soto went 4 for 4 with a walk. He is hitting .317 with 11 homers, 37 RBIs and a .975 OPS, recovering from a 3-for-25 slide during a six-game road trip.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone noticed a change with some hard-hit balls in Friday night's series opener.
“I could just see his body language,” Boone said. “Just really locked in today, all the way 'til the end there. So just one of those days that Juan's capable of.”
Soto tied the score in the first inning with a 417-foot drive deep into the right-field bleachers off Brad Keller, had an RBI single in the second and hit another solo shot in the fifth with a 437-footer deeper into the right-field bleachers. It was the 18th multihomer game for Soto.
“There’s a consistency of what he does and a confidence to what he’s doing,” Boone said. “He has a real good understanding of himself and hitting and knows the things that he wants to work on.”
Stanton and Jose Trevino also homered for the Yankees, who emerged from the game leading the major leagues with 66 long balls. Aaron Judge has 12 homers, recovering from a slow start, and Stanton has 11.
Their offense has propelled New York to 12 wins in 14 games. The Yankees boosted their record to an AL-best 32-15 despite ace Gerrit Cole missing at least the first two months of the season with an elbow injury.
New York's pitchers lead the major leagues with a 2.83 ERA. Rookie Luis Gil struck out a career-high 14 over six innings against the White Sox, winning his fourth straight start and fifth consecutive decision.
“With those three guys hitting the ball well, swinging the bat well, and having those starters doing what they’ve been doing, I think it’s just more than enough to win games,” Soto said, referring to himself, Judge and Stanton.
A three-time All-Star acquired by the Yankees from San Diego in December, the 25-year-old already has become a fan favorite. New York owner Hal Steinbrenner said this week he was open to in-season negotiations on a long-term contract for Soto, who can become a free agent after the World Series.
“It’s been great this past month-and-a-half,” Soto said. “The fan base, teammates, everything has been going in a good way.”
Soto was on the field Friday for batting practice after conferring with coaches and watching video.
“Definitely working on my swing, try to find that feeling again where I was hitting the ball in the first month and getting that feeling back and just get that confidence back,” he said. “You got to try everything that you have to to help yourself. It’s not going to happen overnight.”
Soto had just a single putout in right field on an afternoon Gil and relievers struck out 16 batters. He's not an advocate of Crash Davis, the “Field of Dreams” catcher who told pitcher Nuke LaLoosh: "Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they’re fascist. Throw some ground balls — it’s more democratic."
"Hell no. You want to strike out all the guys, I’m more than happy to see that," Soto said.
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New York Yankees' Juan Soto, left, celebrates with Aaron Judge after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees' Juan Soto flips his bat after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. The Yankees won 6-1. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees' Juan Soto celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. The Yankees won 6-1. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees' Juan Soto celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. The Yankees won 6-1. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees' Juan Soto, right, celebrates with third base coach Luis Rojas as he runs the bases after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
In this image taken with a slow shutter speed, New York Yankees' Juan Soto runs the bases after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees' Juan Soto hits a single during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. The Yankees won 6-1. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees' Juan Soto hits a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu worked to mend ties with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Friday and offered measured optimism about progress toward a cease-fire deal for Gaza as he neared the end of a contentious U.S. visit that put on display the growing American divisions over support for the Israeli-Hamas war.
At Trump's Florida Mar-a-Lago estate, where the two men met face-to-face for the first time in nearly four years, Netanyahu told journalists he wanted to see U.S.-mediated talks succeed for a cease-fire and release of hostages.
“I hope so,” Netanyahu said, when reporters asked if his U.S. trip had made progress. While Netanyahu at home is increasingly accused of resisting a deal to end the 9-month-old war to stave off the potential collapse of his far-right government when it ends, he said Friday he was "certainly eager to have one. And we’re working on it.”
As president, Trump went well beyond his predecessors in fulfilling Netanyahu’s top wishes from the United States. Yet relations soured after Netanyahu became one of the first world leaders to congratulate Joe Biden for his 2020 presidential victory, which Trump continues to deny.
The two men now have a strong interest in restoring their relationship, both for the political support their alliance brings and for the luster it gives each with their conservative supporters.
A beaming Trump was waiting for Netanyahu on the stone steps outside his private club and residence in Palm Beach, Florida. He warmly clasped the hands of the Israeli leader.
“We’ve always had a great relationship,” Trump insisted before journalists. Asked as the two sat down in a muraled room for talks if Netanyahu’s trip to Mar-a-Lago was repairing their bond, Trump responded, “It was never bad.”
For both men, Friday’s meeting was aimed at highlighting for their home audiences their depiction of themselves as strong leaders who have gotten big things done on the world stage, and can again.
Netanyahu’s Florida trip followed a fiery address to a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday that defended his government’s conduct of the war and condemned American protesters galvanized by the killing of more than 39,000 Palestinians in the conflict.
On Thursday, Netanyahu had met in Washington with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who appears on track to becoming the new Democratic presidential nominee after Biden decided to step out of the race. Both pressed the Israeli leader to work quickly to wrap up a deal to bring a cease-fire and release hostages held by Hamas.
Trump’s campaign said he pledged in Friday's meeting to “make every effort to bring peace to the Middle East” and combat antisemitism on college campuses if American voters elect him to the presidency in November.
Netanyahu handed Trump a framed photo that the Israeli leader said showed a child who has been held hostage by Hamas-led militants since the first hours of the war. “We’ll get it taken care of,” Trump assured him.
In a speech later Friday before a group of young Christian conservatives, Trump said he also asked Netanyahu during their meeting how “a Jewish person, or a person that loves Israel” can vote for Democrats.
He also laced into Harris for missing Netanyahu's speech and claimed she “doesn’t like Jewish people” and “doesn’t like Israel." Harris has been married to a Jewish man for a decade.
For Trump, the meeting was a chance to be cast as an ally and statesman, as well as to sharpen efforts by Republicans to portray themselves as the party most loyal to Israel.
Divisions among Americans over U.S. support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza have opened cracks in years of strong bipartisan backing for Israel, the biggest recipient of U.S. aid.
For Netanyahu, repairing relations with Trump is imperative given the prospect that Trump may once again become president of the United States, which is Israel’s vital arms supplier and protector.
One gamble for Netanyahu is whether he could get more of the terms he wants in any deal on a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release, and in his much hoped-for closing of a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia, if he waits out the Biden administration in hopes that Trump wins.
“Benjamin Netanyahu has spent much of his career in the last two decades in tethering himself to the Republican Party,” said Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. diplomat for Arab-Israeli negotiations, now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
For the next six months, that means “mending ties with an irascible, angry president," Miller said, meaning Trump.
Netanyahu and Trump last met at a September 2020 White House signing ceremony for the signature diplomatic achievement of both men’s political careers. It was an accord brokered by the Trump administration in which the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain agreed to establish normal diplomatic relations with Israel.
For Israel, it amounted to the two countries formally recognizing it for the first time. It was a major step in what Israel hoped would be an easing of tensions and a broadening of economic ties with its Arab neighbors.
In public postings and statements after his break with Netanyahu, Trump portrayed himself as having stuck his neck out for Israel as president, and Netanyahu paying him back with disloyalty.
He also has criticized Netanyahu on other points, faulting him as “not prepared” for the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks that started the war in Gaza, for example.
In his high-profile speech to Congress on Wednesday and again Friday at Mar-a-Lago, Netanyahu poured praise on Trump, calling the regional accords Trump helped broker historic and thanking him “for all the things he did for Israel.”
Netanyahu listed actions by the Trump administration long-sought by Israeli governments — the U.S. officially saying Israel had sovereignty over the Golan Heights, captured from Syria during a 1967 war; a tougher U.S. policy toward Iran; and Trump declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel, breaking with longstanding U.S. policy that Jerusalem's status should be decided in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
“I appreciated that,” Trump told “Fox & Friends” on Thursday, referring to Netanyahu's praise.
Trump has repeatedly urged that Israel with U.S. support “finish the job” in Gaza and destroy Hamas, but he hasn’t elaborated on how.
Natalie Melzer in Tel Aviv, Israel, Adriana Gomez Licon in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Jill Colvin in New York contributed. Knickmeyer reported from Washington. Price reported from New York.
Follow the AP's coverage of the 2024 election at https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at the Turning Point Believers' Summit, Friday, July 26, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump listens as he meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks while meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks while meeting with Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
FILE - President Donald Trump, right, meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office, Sept. 15, 2020, at the White House in Washington. Trump is due to talk face-to-face with Netanyahu for the first time in nearly four years. The meeting Friday, July 26, 2024, at Mar-a-Lago will mend a break that has lasted since 2021. Trump at the time blasted Netanyahu for being one of the first leaders to congratulate President Joe Biden for his election victory. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
