Juan Soto’s three hits give Yankees win over White Sox

Juan Soto hit his first three career home runs, Nestor Cortes threw seven hitless innings and the New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox 4-1 on Tuesday night to take sole possession of the American League East lead.

Soto scored twice in the third when he fired a shot to left by Jonathan Cannon (2-6) and then scored another in the fifth. The four-time All-Star added his 33rd goal of the season in the seventh when he fired a shot to left by Frazier Ellard for a 4-0 lead.

“I was working on trying to be precise with the ball,” Soto said in his post-game on-field interview with YES Network. “I tried to touch the ball, put the barrel on it, and forget about it.”

With a chance to tie the major league record with four home runs in a single game, Soto walked in the ninth inning after swinging and fouling on a 3-0 pitch that was slightly outside the strike zone.

“The three of them were impressive,” New York coach Aaron Boone said of his powerful hitting. “When I watch Juan, I feel like I’m watching one of the best seasons I’ve ever seen.”

Curtis (6-10), who allowed nine hits and six earned runs in a shortstop game against the Los Angeles Angels five days ago, scattered three hits and tied his best of the season with nine strikeouts.

“He was great,” Boone said of his starter’s performance. “I liked the way he threw the ball.”

Luis Robert Jr. spoiled New York’s attempt to keep a clean sheet by scoring a strikeout in the eighth inning off Mark Leiter Jr. Jake Cousins, the last of four relief pitchers, also got three runs — two with the bases loaded — to earn his first career save.

Thanks to Soto, the Yankees, who lost to the White Sox 12-2 in the series opener, bounced back to take a half-game lead over second-place Baltimore, who lost to the Washington Nationals.

“It’s a very tough matchup, every day,” Boone said of the opponents Soto is preparing to face.

Cannon allowed five hits and three hits while striking out four batters in 4⅔ innings. The White Sox recorded five hits in one night after striking out 18 batters. They lost 31 of their last 36 games.

Yankees’ leadoff hitter Aaron Judge hit 2-of-3 with a pair of singles and two walks to stay on 299 career home runs.

But it was clear that the night belonged to Soto.

“It’s impressive. He waited until he got a ball on every pitch and did some damage on it,” said Judge, who later called Soto “the greatest hitter in the game.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.