TORONTO — A day after leading a comeback victory, Juan Soto was a late scratch from the Yankees’ lineup.
Instead of batting second against the Blue Jays, Soto was removed from the lineup shortly before first pitch and sent for imaging on a right hand bruise that he suffered sliding into home plate Friday night.
Two innings after hurting his hand, Soto went on to crush a three-run home run — his 20th of the season — that gave the Yankees a lead and sent them to a 16-5 win at Rogers Centre.
Soto missed three games earlier this season with inflammation in his left elbow, but came into Saturday batting .302 with a 1.004 OPS.
The hand injury occurred in the fourth inning Friday on a heady baserunning play by Soto and Judge.
On a ground ball to second, Judge held up between first and second to avoid a tag, then got into a pickle that allowed Soto to score all the way from second base.
Soto dove into home with his left hand to miss the tag by catcher Danny Jansen and then slammed his right hand.
But there was nothing outwardly amiss, as Soto went on to collect two more hits before the night was over.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]