NEW YORK (AP) — Juan Soto had a quiet night with three walks, a groundout and a flyout in his return to the Bronx, Carlos Rodón won his fourth straight decision and the New York Yankees beat the Mets 6-2 Friday night in the first of six Subway Series games this season.
Paul Goldschmidt had two RBIs and Cody Bellinger had three hits before a sellout crowd of 47,700.
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New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger, right, celebrates scoring a run with Austin Wells (28) during the third inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets Friday, May 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New York Yankees' Aaron Judge, right, celebrates with Jorbit Vivas (90) after they scored on a hit by Paul Goldschmidt during the third inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets Friday, May 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets Friday, May 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Fans watch as New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto plays a ball off the wall during the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Soto, who left the Yankees for a record $765 million, 15-year contract with the Mets, was booed loudly by fans who rose to their feet when he batted in the first inning. He responded by taking off his helmet, tipping it to the crowd and touching it against his heart.
Rodón (5-3) allowed one run and two hits in five innings. Brandon Nimmo hit an RBI single in the fourth that drove in Soto.
Jonathan Loáisiga pitched a scoreless, one-hit sixth in his first big league appearance since April 3 last year after recovering from reconstructive elbow surgery. After Francisco Lindor's two-out RBI double off Yerry De Los Santos, Luke Weaver retired Soto on a fly to center with two on for his fifth save in six chances.
Goldschmidt put the Yankees ahead with a run-scoring single in a four-run third as Lindor's off-balance throw from shortstop bounced off first baseman Pete Alonso's glove for an error that allowed a second run to score. Anthony Volpe added a sacrifice fly and Oswaldo Peraza had a bases-loaded walk.
Tylor Megill (3-4) allowed four runs, four hits and five walks in a season-low 2 2/3 innings, dropping to 0-2 in his last four starts — all Mets defeats. He walked four in a 39-pitch second inning, and the five walks overall matched his career high.
Left-hander José Castillo had not yet reported to the Mets, who acquired him from Arizona on Thursday for cash.
Lindor's off-balance throw was his seventh error this season, five shy of his 2024 total.
Soto's walks were a season high.
Yankees RHP Clarke Schmidt (1-1, 4.73) and Mets RHP Griffin Canning (5-1, 2.36) start Saturday.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger, right, celebrates scoring a run with Austin Wells (28) during the third inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets Friday, May 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New York Yankees' Aaron Judge, right, celebrates with Jorbit Vivas (90) after they scored on a hit by Paul Goldschmidt during the third inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets Friday, May 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets Friday, May 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Fans watch as New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto plays a ball off the wall during the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.
Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.
Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.
U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.
"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”
Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.
Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.
“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”
Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.
U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.
Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.
Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.
Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.
"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.
The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.
The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.
“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.
“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”
The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
