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Yankees slugger Juan Soto hits 3 homers in a game for the 1st time

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Yankees slugger Juan Soto hits 3 homers in a game for the 1st time
Sport

Sport

Yankees slugger Juan Soto hits 3 homers in a game for the 1st time

2024-08-14 11:57 Last Updated At:12:01

CHICAGO (AP) — Juan Soto hit three home runs in a game for the first time in his career Tuesday night, connecting in three consecutive at-bats for the New York Yankees against the Chicago White Sox.

The slugger began his outburst with a two-run shot to left field off starter Jonathan Cannon in the third inning and went the other way again on a leadoff homer in the fifth.

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New York Yankees' Juan Soto watches his two-run home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon during the third inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto watches his two-run home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon during the third inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto, right, celebrates his home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon with Aaron Judge during the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto, right, celebrates his home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon with Aaron Judge during the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto, right, watches his home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon, his second of the game, in the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto, right, watches his home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon, his second of the game, in the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto tosses his bat after hitting a home run off Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Fraser Ellard, Soto's third of the game, during the seventh inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto tosses his bat after hitting a home run off Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Fraser Ellard, Soto's third of the game, during the seventh inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto, right, celebrates his home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon with third base coach Luis Rojas during the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto, right, celebrates his home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon with third base coach Luis Rojas during the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto watches his two-run home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon during the third inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto watches his two-run home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon during the third inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto tosses his bat after hitting a home run off Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Fraser Ellard, Soto's third of the game, during the seventh inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto tosses his bat after hitting a home run off Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Fraser Ellard, Soto's third of the game, during the seventh inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

“It locks me in every time I hit the ball that way,” Soto said. “I feel like that’s my strength right there. I feel really good about it.”

The four-time All-Star added his 33rd homer of the season in the seventh off left-handed reliever Fraser Ellard, pulling a drive to right that made it 4-0.

With a chance to match the major league record of four home runs in a game, Soto walked his final time up in the ninth. He smiled after swinging and missing at a 3-0 pitch that was a little out of the strike zone.

“I was ready," Soto said with a grin.

His big night at the plate powered the Yankees to a 4-1 victory that moved them into first place in the AL East, a half-game ahead of Baltimore.

It was the 40th three-homer game in Yankees history, including the postseason. New York rookie Ben Rice had one earlier this summer, on July 6 against Boston.

The 25-year-old Soto has 23 career multi-homer games. The only player with more by age 25 was Hall of Fame slugger Mel Ott with 24.

In his last 28 games, Soto is batting .351 with 12 home runs and a 1.233 OPS.

“I’ve been working on just trying to be accurate to the ball,” he said. “Just be accurate with my barrel and see what happens.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

New York Yankees' Juan Soto watches his two-run home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon during the third inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto watches his two-run home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon during the third inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto, right, celebrates his home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon with Aaron Judge during the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto, right, celebrates his home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon with Aaron Judge during the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto, right, watches his home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon, his second of the game, in the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto, right, watches his home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon, his second of the game, in the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto tosses his bat after hitting a home run off Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Fraser Ellard, Soto's third of the game, during the seventh inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto tosses his bat after hitting a home run off Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Fraser Ellard, Soto's third of the game, during the seventh inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto, right, celebrates his home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon with third base coach Luis Rojas during the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto, right, celebrates his home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon with third base coach Luis Rojas during the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto watches his two-run home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon during the third inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto watches his two-run home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon during the third inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto tosses his bat after hitting a home run off Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Fraser Ellard, Soto's third of the game, during the seventh inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto tosses his bat after hitting a home run off Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Fraser Ellard, Soto's third of the game, during the seventh inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

KARTALKAYA, Turkey (AP) — As flames tore through a 12-story hotel at a popular ski resort in northwestern Turkey, friends Esra Karakisa and Halime Cetin stood helpless, paralyzed by the horror unfolding before them: people leaning out of smoke-filled rooms pleading for help and others making the harrowing decision to leap out.

The fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalya, in the Koroglu mountains in Bolu province, on Tuesday left at least 76 people dead and 51 injured. It came near the start of a two-week winter break for schools when hotels in the region are filled to capacity.

“There was no one around. They were calling for firefighters. They were breaking the windows. Some could no longer stand the smoke and flames, and they jumped,” Cetin, an employee at a hotel adjacent to the Grand Kartal, told The Associated Press.

Her colleague, Karakisa said: “It was awful. We were terrified. People were screaming. The cries of children especially affected us. We wanted to help but there was nothing we could do. I couldn’t look it was so terrifying.”

Authorities have assigned six prosecutors to investigate the cause of the fire, which appeared to have started at the restaurant section on the fourth floor of of the wooden-clad hotel and spread quickly through to the upper floors.

At least nine people have been detained for questioning, including the hotel owner.

Flags at government buildings and Turkish diplomatic missions abroad were lowered to half-staff as the nation shocked by the disaster observed a day of mourning for the victims.

Only 45 of the 76 bodies have been identified so far, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said late Tuesday.

One of the injured was in serious condition, while 29 others were treated and released, the Health Ministry said.

The hotel had 238 registered guests, according to Yerlikaya. The fire was reported at 3:27 a.m. and the fire department began to respond at 4:15 a.m., he told reporters.

Officials and witnesses said the rescue efforts were hampered by the fact that part of the 161-room hotel is on the side of a cliff.

According to Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, the hotel underwent inspections in 2021 and 2024, and “no negative situation regarding fire competence” was reported by the fire department.

Karakisa said she eventually brought clothes and water for the survivors while others rushed to bring mattresses for people to jump onto or propped up ladders against the wall to help them escape.

Among those who placed mattresses was Baris Salgur, a cleaner in a nearby hotel.

“They were saying, ‘Please help, we’re burning!' They were saying, ‘Call the fire department,' we were trying to calm them down, but there was nothing we could do, we couldn’t get in either,” Salgur, 19, said. " It was very high, we couldn’t extend a rope or anything of course. We were trying to do the best we could.”

“People jumped from a great height, I couldn’t look. There were two women at the top floor. The flames had literally entered the room. They couldn’t stand it and jumped,” he said.

Salgur described seeing a man on the top floors holding a baby and shouting for a mattress he could throw his baby on.

"We told him to be a little calmer. He waited, then the fire department came and took them (out), but unfortunately the baby had died from smoke inhalation,” he said.

Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Robert Badendieck in Istanbul contributed to this report.

Tightened bed sheets hang from a window of a hotel where a fire broke out at the Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu province, northwest Turkey, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Tightened bed sheets hang from a window of a hotel where a fire broke out at the Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu province, northwest Turkey, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

A Turkish flag flag flies at half staff outside a hotel where a fire broke out at the Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu province, northwest Turkey, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

A Turkish flag flag flies at half staff outside a hotel where a fire broke out at the Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu province, northwest Turkey, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Firefighters and emergency teams work on the aftermath of a fire that broke out at a hotel in the ski resort of Kartalkaya, located in Bolu province, northwest Turkey, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Firefighters and emergency teams work on the aftermath of a fire that broke out at a hotel in the ski resort of Kartalkaya, located in Bolu province, northwest Turkey, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in a hotel at a ski resort of Kartalkaya, located in Bolu province, in northwest Turkey, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (Enes Ozkan/IHA via AP)

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in a hotel at a ski resort of Kartalkaya, located in Bolu province, in northwest Turkey, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (Enes Ozkan/IHA via AP)

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