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Fans at Citi Field already had grown restless over Juan Soto’s early-season slump, but the home crowd cheered the $765 million man as he strode to the plate with a runner on third base and the Mets trailing by one run in the fifth inning Friday night.
Those cheers grew louder when the skidding Soto ripped an 0-1 changeup to right field for a game-tying RBI single against Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas.
The single came on the heels of a 2-for-24 skid that had dropped Soto’s batting average 20 games into his Mets tenure to .214 with only three home runs, albeit two in the previous four games.
It also followed a controversy from earlier this week after the former Yankees slugger had told The Post’s Mike Puma that he has been pitched to differently this season without Aaron Judge batting behind him.
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“Definitely know how to handle it,” Soto said after going 0-for-3 with a walk in Thursday’s 4-1 win over the Cards. “I’ve been growing as a man through my whole career, and I just know things are gonna change. I just gotta keep grinding.”