Juan Soto homers in Mets fourth-inning outburst as they shutout Nationals

Then came Soto, the prodigious home run hitter who hadn’t hit one in 27 days. Soto missed 15 games with a strained calf that he injured two days after he hit that first home run of the season. He was activated last week, the same day Francisco Lindor went down with a calf injury. Even the healthy hitters haven’t been producing though, with the Mets ranking last in baseball for runs scored and OPS.

Littell (0-4) worked ahead of Soto, 1-2, before throwing a four-seamer out of the zone, likely trying to try to get him to chase it. Soto didn’t bite. He fouled off a sweeper to stay at 2-2, before getting a sinker that didn’t sink right over the plate, and driving it into the left-center stands. The Nats then went to the bullpen, ending his night at eight runs (four earned) on five hits over 4 2/3 innings.

It was a home run the Mets badly needed. They were swept over the weekend by the Colorado Rockies, scoring only two runs in the last two games. Fans have been calling for manager Carlos Mendoza to be fired. The hitting coaches, Jeff Albert and Troy Snitker, have largely escaped criticism, but they too are starting to face backlash from the fans.

The front office has given no indication that personnel decisions are coming, but until the Mets start stringing together wins, they’ll all be forced to face harsh lines of questioning and sparse, angry crowds.

Coming into the game, the Nationals owned the second-worst ERA in baseball. If there was ever a time to start scoring runs, it’s now, against a divisional opponent with a subpar pitching staff. The Mets have a habit of making even the worst pitchers look like Cy Young Award winners though, so if Littel had shut them out, few would have been shocked.

Instead, the Mets (10-19) finally beat a team they needed to beat and showed they are capable of creating offense. Now, they have to keep doing that in two more games against Washington (13-17) this week, and beyond, if they want to save their manager and save their season.

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