May 22, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Juan Soto (22) stands on the field after striking out with the bases loaded in the seventh inning against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports / Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Juan Soto is in the spotlight this season. He is playing for the New York Yankees following a trade from the San Diego Padres, a serious contender for the AL MVP award, and set to hit free agency this winter to get a potential record-breaking contract. Soto is living up to his reputation of being one of the best hitters in the majors, as he has recorded a .309 batting average, a .433 on-base percentage, a .576 slugging percentage, 18 home runs, 56 RBI, 61 runs, and 83 hits in 74 games played.

One thing that Yankees fans have seen is that Soto is extremely competitive during his at-bats. As in, he forces full counts and has discussions with the umpire in between pitches. The latter of which recently caught the ire of former major league pitcher and current Atlanta Braves radio broadcaster Darren O’Day.

With the Yankees trailing 8-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Soto was struck out on a slider thrown by Chris Sale that painted the far bottom corner of the plate. Soto wasn’t pleased with the call and began arguing with home plate umpire Mark Ripperger.

O’Day called out Soto, saying that Sale’s pitch was a strike while telling the Yankees slugger to go back to the dugout and look at the replay.

Juan Soto called out by Darren O’Day over arguing strikeout call vs. Braves

“That’s infuriates me, watching Juan Soto complain to umpire,” said O’Day. “It’s definitely a perfectly executed slider down and away. Go back to the dugout, look at it on the iPad and you struck out, fair and square.”

O’Day is obviously not a fan of Soto expressing his disagreement on the strike three call. But the pitch was perfectly inside the strike zone when looking at the pitch-by-pitch analysis and the replay. Really, it was just that kind of night for Sale, who was dominant against the Yankees batting order.

Sale, in his first season with the Braves after a trade from the Boston Red Sox, has been nothing but spectacular. On Friday night, Sale struck out eight batters, issued one walk, and allowed just one earned run on one hit through five innings of work. With that, Sale brings his ERA to 2.91 on the year.

As for Soto, he didn’t do much against the Braves as a whole, going 0-for-4 in the batter’s box with three strikeouts. But Soto wasn’t the only one who had a bad game. Carlos Rodon was chased after surrendering eight earned runs on 11 hits in 3.2 innings of work. The Yankees bats, as a whole, only recorded three hits through nine innings.

It was that kind of night for the Braves and Yankees. The Braves get to celebrate a series-opening win, while the Yankees lament losing their fifth game in the past six contests.