A day after leaning into his flair for the dramatic with a clutch pinch-hit double in the 10th inning, Juan Soto made his return to the Yankees lineup on Saturday — and stayed in it.
Soto had been a late scratch from Friday’s lineup because of a swollen left knee from making a sliding catch into the wall on Thursday, but came through his pinch-hit cameo well enough to be back in the lineup a day later, going 2-for-6 and scoring a pair of runs in the 10-0 win over the A’s.
Perhaps even more encouraging than his two hits was how Soto was moving, getting up the line quickly while trying to beat out a ground ball in the fourth inning.
Juan Soto hits a bloop single in the third inning of the Yankees’ 10-0 win over the A’s on Sept. 21, 2024.
“That was encouraging,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Obviously a little scare when he goes into the wall like that and then having to be scratched [Friday] night before putting his cape on and coming in and doing his thing.
“But I thought he moved pretty well tonight, so that was really encouraging.”
The Yankees have business to take care of this weekend, but their three-game series here also doubled as a goodbye to the Coliseum.
With the A’s eventually set to relocate to Las Vegas, they are expected to play in Sacramento in the interim beginning next season, making this the Yankees’ final trip to the stadium where they have plenty of history — most notably Derek Jeter’s flip play in the 2001 ALDS.
“For me there is [something special about it],” Boone said. “I’ve been coming here a long time. I’ve come as a son of a player, as a player, as a manager, as a broadcaster.
“So I’ve been here for a lot of cool times, cool moments. Know what an historical place this has been over the years and it’s housed a lot of outstanding players and outstanding teams.
Juan Soto accepts congratulations from Aaron Judge after scoring a run in the first inning of the Yankees’ win.
“So I’m very nostalgic of a lot of the places that have been around a long time. So yeah, it’s meaningful to me.”
Boone remembered coming here when his dad, Bob, was playing on the Angels in the early 1980s and he would get to sit on the bench.
Boone’s debut as a Yankee also came here in 2003, when he had to face Tim Hudson, Barry Zito and Mark Mulder in the three-game series.
A handful of Yankees players and staffers on Saturday afternoon made the trek up to Mount Davis, the top of the bleachers in center field, to take pictures.
The Yankees went into Sunday’s finale 147-135 all-time at the Coliseum.
DJ LeMahieu (hip impingement) has started baseball activities, hitting off the tee a few days ago, but remains unlikely to be an option before the regular season ends.
Jon Berti got his first start since May 24 on Saturday (with a long IL stint in between), going 2-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch while giving Jazz Chisholm Jr. a day off at third base against A’s lefty starter JP Sears.
Boone recorded his 600th career win on Saturday, becoming the seventh Yankees manager to reach that milestone.
