HOUSTON — Five times Juan Soto stepped into the batter’s box during his debut with the New York Mets against the Houston Astros on Thursday. And five times baseball’s $765 million man received steady boos from the Daikin Park crowd, none louder than in the ninth inning, with the game on the line.

Soto, fittingly, represented the game-winning run when he walked to the plate to face left-hander Josh Hader with runners on the corners and two outs. Hader, one of the best closers in the sport, quickly fell behind 3-0, then recovered with two strikes before unleashing a slider that darted away from Soto and out of the strike zone.

Soto waved and whiffed. He was, shockingly, fooled to end the Astros’ 3-1 win.

“His best pitch is the fastball,” Soto said, “so I was sitting on the fastball.”

Thursday’s Opening Day game, matching two clubs that expect to play in October, had a few pregame storylines. Future Hall of Famer Jose Altuve‘s first game as a left fielder in his age-35 season. Cam Smith, a 22-year-old slugger, making his major league debut less than a year after he was drafted. Clay Holmes, the former New York Yankees All-Star closer, starting his first game since 2018.

But it was, above all, about Soto.

A year ago, Soto also made his debut as the right fielder for a New York club in Houston to launch a pressure-packed season. But that team was the Yankees, the stadium was called Minute Maid Park and the pressure stemmed from the desire to impress with free agency waiting in November.

This time, he’s a member of the Mets, an air conditioning company owns this ballpark’s naming rights and the pressure stems from looking to prove he’s worth the largest contract in professional sports history.

Batting second, Soto cracked a single in his first plate appearance as a Met against veteran left-hander Framber Valdez. He walked in the third inning, flied out in the sixth and walked again — on four pitches — in the eighth. It was a typical Soto showing, skillfully patient but willing and able to pounce on mistakes.

And yet the Mets did not score for eight innings. Valdez began his platform season by holding the Mets’ potent lineup scoreless over seven innings on 90 pitches. New York showed signs of life against right-hander Bryan Abreu but still didn’t manage to score. It wasn’t until the ninth inning, when Hader clearly wasn’t in peak form, that the Mets finally pushed a run across.

Starling Marte singled, Tyrone Taylor singled and Luisangel Acuna worked a 12-pitch walk to load the bases to begin the inning. After Hayden Senger struck out in his first career at-bat, Francisco Lindor delivered a sacrifice fly to pull the Mets within a run, bringing Soto to the plate.

“You feel it. I think everybody’s like, man, let’s get Juan up and see what happens,” said Holmes, who surrendered three runs (two earned) over 4⅔ innings in his Mets debut. “And we’re able to do it. More times than not, we feel really good about it. And they made him work, and we were right there close. At the end of the day, if we got Juan up with a chance to win the game, anybody likes those chances.”

What followed was a one-on-one battle between two players elite in their respective crafts. Soto said he saw Hader, a five-time All-Star, “really well” even though he presented a difficult lefty-lefty matchup with a three-quarters delivery.

“We all want to do something in a big spot,” Soto said. “We all try to get the knock and try to bring the runs in and try to help the day in any way. But, for me, I don’t mind taking a walk right there. I have Pete [Alonso] behind me, and he’s a really good power hitter.”

Soto would have walked if he had laid off the 3-2 slider. But he didn’t, and his first signature Mets moment will have to wait at least another day.

Said Soto: “He just got me in that situation.”

WASHINGTON — The jeers greeted the announcement of Bryce Harper‘s name during pregame introductions at Nationals Park on Thursday. And when he stepped to the plate in the top of the first inning. Again in the fourth.

And, once more, when it was his turn to bat in the seventh, with his current team, the Philadelphia Phillies, trailing his first club in the majors, the Washington Nationals, 1-0 on Opening Day. As Harper does so well, and so often, he lived up to the moment, hammering a first-pitch fastball to the deepest part of the stadium, getting Philadelphia’s offense going in what became a 7-3 victory over Washington in 10 innings.

“I love coming in here and playing in this stadium,” Harper said when asked about the booing. “I’ve got a lot of great memories in here, as well. Everywhere I go, it’s exactly like this. Some places are louder than others. It’s all the same.”

He also pivoted on the topic, saying about his returns to the ballpark in the nation’s capital: “All the workers, really — I love my relationship with them a lot. Going through the tunnel and talking to everybody, they still tell me they love me. All the workers in [the visitor’s clubhouse], as well. They know who I am. They know exactly what type of person I am and player and all that kind of stuff. Fans — it’s part of it.”

His long ball Thursday was the sixth of his career in his team’s first game of a season, tied for the most among active players. The first five Opening Day homers for him came while playing for Washington, where he was the 2012 NL Rookie of the Year and the 2015 NL MVP before leaving for Philly as a free agent after the 2018 season.

“I love hitting in this ballpark,” Harper said. “Always have.”

The eight-time NL All-Star connected off reliever Lucas Sims after striking out twice against Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore as shadows crept across the field on account of the 4:06 p.m. start on a sunny day.

Gore finished with 13 Ks; Nationals pitchers accumulated a total of 19 strikeouts.

“We couldn’t see,” said Alec Bohm, whose two-run double broke a 3-all tie in the 10th. “[That’s] part of it.”

Harper’s take?

“Obviously we don’t want to punch [out] 19 times. That’s comical, right? It’s not fun to do that,” Harper said. “And we can’t do that as a team. But today, made it happen, made it work.”

He hadn’t homered in a spring training game and said his “timing was just a little off” heading into the regular season.

The first baseman chuckled when he mentioned that hitting coach Kevin Long joked with him that there was, actually, a home run off Harper’s bat down in Florida — but it came during live batting practice on a back field.

The 415-foot solo shot off a 96 mph fastball Thursday was a good sign.

“Definitely felt good on that swing,” Harper said. “Felt like it all came together right there.”

ST. LOUIS — Nolan Arenado‘s eighth-inning blast didn’t give the St. Louis Cardinals the lead — they were already in front at the time — nor did it complete a big day for him at the plate.

But it had plenty of extra meaning, and the crowd knew it. It’s why they asked for and received a curtain call from the 12-year veteran, who was on the trade block all winter.

“I wasn’t expecting the current call,” Arenado said after the Cardinals’ 5-3 win Thursday over the Minnesota Twins on Opening Day. “I’m actually surprised I got it. I don’t think I got one last year.”

Arenado took Twins right-hander Griffin Jax deep to left to pad the Cardinals’ lead, giving him two hits, but it was before the game that he really began to feel the emotion of the afternoon. Arenado received a huge ovation from the sold-out crowd during player introductions, giving him a reason to take things in more than normal.

“I usually don’t, but today I did, and the way they cheered for me, it meant a lot to me and it got me motivated, and I was just fortunate to give them something to cheer about again,” Arenado said. “Usually, they don’t do curtain calls if you hit one homer, but it was a big homer.”

The emotions from Arenado’s blast and the ensuing curtain call stemmed from the uncertainty that loomed over his future in a Cardinals uniform following an unproductive 2024 campaign in which he hit just 16 home runs. Over the winter, he invoked his no-trade clause, turning down a deal to Houston, though many observers thought he would eventually be moved.

Another trade never materialized, but that doesn’t mean one won’t happen this summer. Arenado understands that.

“I don’t know,” he said. “There’s different things going through your head, so you just think of all the uncertainty. I was like, I don’t know if this is going to be my last time.”

His teammates recognized the meaning of the moment as well.

“Significant to him,” outfielder Lars Nootbaar said. “Significant to us. Cool for the fans to bring him out like that.”

St. Louis is going through a transition phase as longtime executive John Mozeliak has already announced this will be his last year. Unless the Cardinals are in the race, there is an expectation they will move some veterans later this summer.

But that wasn’t the narrative on Thursday when St. Louis played a solid opening game, led by veterans such as Arenado and starter Sonny Gray. It’s possible that Gray will eventually be moved as well, along with closer Ryan Helsley, who locked down the save against the Twins.

But that’s for the future. The present was about a fan favorite getting his due after a rough season.

“That was a pretty nice bow on it,” manager Oliver Marmol said of the home run. “This is a guy that’s worked really hard this offseason to come back and show what he’s capable of doing. That’s a big homer. It’s probably more meaningful than people think.”