It begins! Juan Soto launches his first home run with the Mets

Juan Soto’s first game with the Mets didn’t live up to the hype of his monumental offseason, but his second one gave New York fans a reminder of what the 26-year-old slugger brings to the table. 

In his second at-bat of the night against the Houston Astros, the lefty Soto smashed a 390-foot home run to right field off right-hander Hunter Brown to put the Mets up 3-0 in the third inning.

The Mets held on for a 3-1 win, their first of the year.

Soto’s shot came a day after he struck out on a full-count slider from closer Josh Hader with two on and two out in a 3-1 opening-day loss.

It was the 202nd home run of his career and probably the first of what will be many with the Mets in the next decade-plus. Soto signed a record 15-year, $765 million deal with the team in December.

New York starter Tylor Megill (1-0) pitched five-plus innings of one-run ball. He allowed three hits, struck out six and walked one.

Edwin Diaz struck out one in a perfect ninth for his first save, finishing a three-hitter.

Brown (0-1) struck out seven in six innings. He allowed four hits and walked three.

Mark Vientos hit an RBI double for New York in the second and scored on a single by Jesse Winker.

Houston scored its only run in the fourth on Yordan Alvarez’s sacrifice fly.

The Astros had a runner on first with one out in the eighth when Luisangel Acuna made a diving stop on Alvarez’s grounder to second, popped up and threw to first for the out.

Houston was 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

The Astros loaded the bases with one out in the sixth, but Reed Garrett struck out Alvarez before retiring Yainer Diaz on a fly ball to right-center.

The Mets have won the last seven games started by Megill dating to Aug. 30.

Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti opposes Griffin Canning when the series wraps up Saturday night. Arrighetti looks to build on a strong rookie season when his 171 strikeouts were the third-most by a rookie in franchise history.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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