{"id":15257,"date":"2024-10-20T07:49:35","date_gmt":"2024-10-20T07:49:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=15257"},"modified":"2024-10-20T07:49:35","modified_gmt":"2024-10-20T07:49:35","slug":"sotos-epic-pennant-clinching-at-bat-pitch-by-pitch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=15257","title":{"rendered":"Soto’s epic pennant-clinching at-bat, pitch by pitch"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There have been many momentous home runs in the long and rich history of the Yankees. On Saturday night in Cleveland,\u00a0Juan Soto\u00a0etched his name alongside those of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Reggie Jackson, Aaron Judge and Soto\u2019s own manager, Aaron Boone, among others with iconic homers in franchise lore.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Soto\u00a0sent the Yankees to their first World Series in 15 years\u00a0when he belted a go-ahead three-run homer in the 10th inning of Game 5 of the American League Championship Series against the Guardians. The two-out battle between Soto and reliever\u00a0Hunter Gaddis, with the AL pennant at stake, lasted seven pitches.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Here\u2019s a pitch-by-pitch breakdown of one of the most memorable at-bats in recent postseason history:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Pitch 1:<\/strong>\u00a089.1 mph slider, inside
\nResult: Ball (1-0)<\/em>
\nThe pitch that Soto has had the most trouble with is the slider — he hit just .169 with a .338 slugging percentage against it during the regular season. Gaddis, whose slider had\u00a0a run value in the 98th percentile\u00a0during the regular season, opened the matchup with three of them. Soto laid off the first one, which dipped low and inside.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Pitch 2:<\/strong>\u00a089.8 mph slider, lower-outside corner
\nResult: Called strike (1-1)<\/em>
\nGaddis\u2019 second slider was over the plate and caught the very bottom of the strike zone, according to home plate umpire Alan Porter. Soto took it and the count was even at 1-1. Soto immediately crouched down in displeasure after the borderline pitch was called a strike, apparently feeling the pitch was low.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Pitch 3:<\/strong>\u00a089.2 mph slider, upper-middle of the zone
\nResult: Foul (1-2)<\/em>
\nWith Soto taking each of the first two sliders, Gaddis went back to the pitch a third time to jump ahead in the count. Though this slider was left over the middle of the plate in the upper half of the zone, Soto swung over the top of it, getting just enough of it to chop a foul ball back to the wall behind home plate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Pitch 4:<\/strong>\u00a082 mph changeup, lower-middle of the zone
\nResult: Foul (1-2)<\/em>
\nAfter three straight sliders to start the at-bat, Gaddis attempted to not only change speeds on Soto by throwing him a changeup, but he also changed the eye level. After getting Soto to foul off the previous pitch at the top of the zone, Gaddis stayed over the middle of the plate but pumped the 82 mph offering in just above the knees. Soto stayed back just long enough to fight it off to the third-base side.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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There have been many momentous home runs in the long and rich history of the Yankees. On Saturday night in Cleveland,\u00a0Juan Soto\u00a0etched his name alongside those of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Reggie Jackson, Aaron Judge and Soto\u2019s own manager, Aaron Boone, among others with iconic homers in franchise lore.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Soto\u00a0sent the Yankees to their first World Series in 15 years\u00a0when he belted a go-ahead three-run homer in the 10th inning of Game 5 of the American League Championship Series against the Guardians. The two-out battle between Soto and reliever\u00a0Hunter Gaddis, with the AL pennant at stake, lasted seven pitches.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Here\u2019s a pitch-by-pitch breakdown of one of the most memorable at-bats in recent postseason history:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Pitch 1:<\/strong>\u00a089.1 mph slider, inside
\nResult: Ball (1-0)<\/em>
\nThe pitch that Soto has had the most trouble with is the slider — he hit just .169 with a .338 slugging percentage against it during the regular season. Gaddis, whose slider had\u00a0a run value in the 98th percentile\u00a0during the regular season, opened the matchup with three of them. Soto laid off the first one, which dipped low and inside.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Pitch 2:<\/strong>\u00a089.8 mph slider, lower-outside corner
\nResult: Called strike (1-1)<\/em>
\nGaddis\u2019 second slider was over the plate and caught the very bottom of the strike zone, according to home plate umpire Alan Porter. Soto took it and the count was even at 1-1. Soto immediately crouched down in displeasure after the borderline pitch was called a strike, apparently feeling the pitch was low.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Pitch 3:<\/strong>\u00a089.2 mph slider, upper-middle of the zone
\nResult: Foul (1-2)<\/em>
\nWith Soto taking each of the first two sliders, Gaddis went back to the pitch a third time to jump ahead in the count. Though this slider was left over the middle of the plate in the upper half of the zone, Soto swung over the top of it, getting just enough of it to chop a foul ball back to the wall behind home plate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Pitch 4:<\/strong>\u00a082 mph changeup, lower-middle of the zone
\nResult: Foul (1-2)<\/em>
\nAfter three straight sliders to start the at-bat, Gaddis attempted to not only change speeds on Soto by throwing him a changeup, but he also changed the eye level. After getting Soto to foul off the previous pitch at the top of the zone, Gaddis stayed over the middle of the plate but pumped the 82 mph offering in just above the knees. Soto stayed back just long enough to fight it off to the third-base side.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Pitch 5:<\/strong>\u00a082.9 mph changeup, high-outside corner
\nResult: Foul (1-2)<\/em>
\nPerhaps sensing that Soto\u2019s timing was a bit off, Gaddis went right back to the changeup, though he elevated this one to the high-outside corner. This time, Soto was out ahead of the pitch, making just enough contact to send a dribbler toward the first-base dugout and keep the at-bat alive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Pitch 6:<\/strong>\u00a090.4 mph slider, outside corner
\nResult: Foul (1-2)<\/em>
\nLooking to somehow finish off Soto, Gaddis went back to his slider, trying to sneak one over the outside corner. Soto was again late on the pitch, but he fought it off with a liner over the third-base dugout and out of play.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Pitch 7:<\/strong>\u00a095.2 mph four-seam fastball, high-outside corner
\nResult: Three-run home run<\/em>
\nUnable to get Soto with the slider (Gaddis\u2019 No. 1 put-away pitch) or the changeup (his No. 2 put-away option), the Cleveland right-hander decided to mix things up by uncorking his first fastball of the showdown — and Soto made him pay. While it looked like catcher\u00a0Bo Naylor\u00a0was calling for the pitch a bit off the plate and above the zone, Gaddis\u2019 95.2 mph offering was ultimately right on the high-outside corner, nearly identical to the location of pitch No. 5.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Though it wasn\u2019t left over the middle of the plate by any means, it was certainly in a spot where Soto could get his arms extended and pounce all over it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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So what was going through Soto\u2019s mind after fouling off four straight pitches with two on and two outs?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI mean, I was all over him. I was all over him,” he said. “That was the only thing I was thinking. I was just saying to myself, ‘You’re all over that guy. You’re all over that guy. He ain’t got anything.’ And just try to make good contact, and I did.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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