LOS ANGELES — Juan Soto celebrated his 26th birthday with a typically productive night at the plate and a shaky play in the field that contributed to a run.
Game 1 of the World Series featured the good and the bad of Soto.
He reached base twice and scored ahead of Giancarlo Stanton’s two-run, sixth-inning homer.
He also misplayed a Kiké Hernandez drive into a triple that enabled the Dodgers to score the game’s first run in the fifth inning.
It proved costly in the Dodgers’ 6-3, 10-inning win.
Soto’s sixth-inning at-bat helped give the Yankees the lead.
Dodgers right-hander Jack Flaherty had cruised through the first five innings, allowing just three hits.
But leading off the inning, Soto lined a 1-2 slider on the outside corner to left-center field, just out of the reach of shortstop Tommy Edman.
After Aaron Judge struck out for the third time of the evening, Stanton went deep to give the Yankees the lead with his sixth homer of the postseason and 11th in 26 games at Dodger Stadium.
Soto has been terrific through October as Judge has struggled.
He entered the night batting .333 in the playoffs with a 1.106 OPS and three homers.
One of those sent the Yankees to the World Series, a three-run shot in the 10th inning of their ALCS-clinching victory over the Guardians.
A free-agent-to-be, Soto has been a great Yankee this year, helping them reach the Fall Classic for the first time in 15 years.
He set career highs in home runs (41), runs scored (128) and his OPS of .989 was his highest since 2021.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Yankees in the postseason:
- Yankees pitcher was set up to fail in untimely decision
- Heyman: It’s time for Yankees to make drastic Aaron Judge move
- Sherman: The Yankees aren’t in Kansas City anymore
- The two sides of Juan Soto showed up in Game 1
But it won’t mean anything, according to Soto, if the Yankees can’t finish the job over the next eight days or so.
He wants a second World Series crown.
“I have one more step to go,” Soto said ahead of Game 1. “You can be the best player, you can do whatever you want. But at the end of the day, people remember you if you win a World Series and what you did for that team.”
