It didn’t take long for Juan Soto to reverse his Subway Series fortune.
Seven weeks after he was booed relentlessly by Yankees fans during a rough weekend in the Bronx, the Mets slugger launched a two-run home run in Friday afternoon’s first inning as the interborough rivalry shifted to Citi Field.
Soto admired the 393-foot blast off of Marcus Stroman, then savored a slow trot around the bases in a theatrical moment fit for Broadway.
And that was only the beginning.
Soto erupted for three hits in four at-bats and scored twice in the Mets’ 6-5 win over the Yankees to open the second installment of the Subway Series.
He doubled in the third inning, then scored on Pete Alonso’s RBI single. He also singled in the fifth.
It was a far cry from Soto’s series at Yankee Stadium in mid-May, when he went just 1-for-10 with four walks and three strikeouts in front of a brutal Bronx crowd.
Those games in the Bronx were Soto’s first against the Yankees since he left them in the offseason for a record-setting 15-year, $765 million contract with the crosstown Mets.
The departure turned Soto into an enemy in the Bronx, and Yankees fans let him know it during that first act of the Subway Series.
Fans in the right-field bleachers turned their backs to Soto in unison in a coordinated protest, then showered him with jeers that ranged from a modest “overrated” to the much more obscene.
One fan told the Daily News he took a six-hour bus ride from Keeseville, N.Y., just to boo Soto, while another taped Ben Rice’s name over Soto’s on her pinstriped No. 22 jersey.
But the vibe was much different Friday in Queens.
Yankees fans in attendance still booed Soto before each of his plate appearances, but their heckling was largely drowned out by a predominantly Mets crowd.
Soto received a standing ovation before his first at-bat from many within the audience of 41,216.
And Soto delivered.
After hitting just .231 with nine home runs in his first 57 games with the Mets, Soto has boosted his average to .266. Friday’s homer was Soto’s 21st.
He was the National League Player of the Month for June after hitting 11 home runs with a 1.196 OPS.
And as evidenced by Friday’s Fourth of July fireworks, Soto hasn’t slowed down this month.
