Juan Soto, Mets overwhelm Diamondbacks

Juan Soto collected two solo home runs and three RBIs, Kodai Senga pitched six shutout innings and the New York Mets beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-1 to take the rubber game of a three-game series Wednesday afternoon in Phoenix.
Soto’s 427-foot homer to center field off Merrill Kelly (3-2) broke a scoreless tie in the sixth inning, and his opposite-field homer to left field made it 4-0 in the eighth.
He finished the scoring with a sacrifice fly after Francisco Lindor’s two-run double in a three-run ninth. Lindor had two doubles and two RBIs.
Senga (4-2) gave up two hits and walked five while striking out four. He held an opponent scoreless for the fourth time in seven starts this season and lowered his ERA to 1.16.
Soto has his second two-homer game of the season, the first coming in a 4-2 home loss to Arizona on May 1.
Corbin Carroll had two hits including an eighth-inning homer, and Alek Thomas doubled and singled for the Diamondbacks, who have lost four of six.
Pete Alonso went 0 for 5 to end an 18-game on-base streak as Arizona third baseman Eugenio Suarez made two strong defensive plays on ground balls to his right.
Luisangel Acuna and Jeff McNeil had RBI hits for the Mets, who earned a split in the six-game season series, all played in the last nine days.
Kelly (3-2) gave up three runs on six hits. He struck out six, did not walk a batter and retired nine straight after giving up Lindor’s one-out double in the third before Soto’s homer.
Senga walked five of the first 10 batters he faced but none scored. The Diamondbacks had six runners on base in the first three innings but ran into two outs on the bases.
Arizona’s Eugenio Suarez walked to open the second and was thrown out attempting to score on Thomas’ one-out double to left-center on a strong relay by shortstop Lindor. Carroll was caught stealing after walking to open the first.
Kelly struck out Acuna and McNeil with runners on first and third to end the Mets’ second after a two-out error prolonged the inning.