Juan Soto blasts grand slam, powers Mets to 10-8 win over Tigers

Juan Soto tied his career-high with six RBI to power the Mets to a 10-8 win over the Detroit Tigers on Monday afternoon.

Here are the key takeaways

— New York loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth inning thanks to a Jeff McNeil double, a walk, and a bloop single. It looked like they were going to waste away another scoring chance, but Juan Soto came through with his first grand slam in a Mets uniform to make it a 6-3 game. Despite it being his 237rd career homer, it was just his second grand slam.

With the game tied at 6-6 in the sixth inning, Soto stepped up in the clutch again with a two-out, two-run triple (his first of the season) to put the Mets up 8-6. He came around to score on Brandon Nimmo's single as the Mets took a 9-6 lead.

— Sean Manaea delivered a fastball over the middle of the plate to Jahmai Jones on his first pitch of the game as the Tigers took a quick 1-0 lead. The lefty let up two more hits in the second inning, but got a pair of groundouts to avoid further damage. Manaea gave up another home run in the third inning, this time a two-run blast on a flat slider to righty Wenceel Pérez as the Tigers took a 3-2 lead.

The struggles continued in the fourth, allowing a RBI-triple to Zach McKinstry and another hit to Jones as the Mets' 6-3 lead became 6-5 in the blink of an eye. Manaea surrendered another single before Carlos Mendoza pulled him after 3.2 IP. He allowed five runs on eight hits and a walk with six strikeouts over 83 pitches.

— The Mets failed to capitalize with RISP in the first inning after Francisco Lindor and Soto both walked, but found a way to get on the board in the second. Cedric Mullins, starting for a third straight game with Tyrone Taylor out, dropped a sacrifice bunt with runners on first and second and then Luis Torrens made it a 2-1 game with a double down the third base line. Although, that's all they'd score in the frame, leaving two on base.

— Gregory Soto relieved Manaea and got the final out of the fourth inning. He was pulled with runners on the corners and one out in the fifth as Ryne Stanek entered and immediately threw a wild pitch, allowing Detroit to get even at 6-6. Tyler Rogers worked around a leadoff single for a scoreless sixth inning.

— After being recalled earlier in the day, Luisangel Acuña pinch ran for McNeil in the seventh and stole second base right away. He advanced to third on Torrens' sac-bunt and scored on Brett Baty's groundout, tacking on another to make it 10-6. Ryan Helsley gave a run back in the bottom of the seventh as his struggles continued, throwing just 0.2 IP and needing to be replaced by Brooks Raley for the third out. 

Raley allowed another tun to cross in the eighth inning, making it a 10-8 game, before handing the ball to Edwin Diaz for the four-out save. Diaz got a fly out to end the eighth and sent the Tigers down in order in the ninth to seal the victory.

Game MVP: Juan Soto

Soto's grand slam gave him 36 homers and the two-run triple pushed him to 90 RBI on the year. He finished 2-for-3 with a walk and the six RBI. Soto now has the most career games (116) with a home run and a walk before turning 27 years old, passing Yankees legend Mickey Mantle (115), h/t Sarah Langs.

Highlights

What's next

The Mets and Tigers continue their three-game series on Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. on SNY. 

Nolan McLean (3-0, 0.89 ERA) makes his fourth career start, while Detroit has yet to decide on a starter.

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