SAN DIEGO — Juan Soto is not in the Mets' starting lineup for Wednesday afternoon's series finale against the Padres, one night after fouling a pitch off his left foot and being removed in the fourth inning. Soto was dealing with a contusion on that foot but X-rays were negative, He was labeled as day-to-day.

Juan Soto immediately grimaced, hopping up and down seven times on his right foot before finally attempting to put weight on his left. The result was a pronounced limp, forcing him to a knee. For several minutes after that,

SAN DIEGO — Juan Soto, a rock who has played in 107 of 108 games in Year One of his $765 million contract with the Mets, had to be removed from game 108 with what the team called a foot contusion. The Mets will cross their fingers after Soto smashed a foul ball off his left, back foot in the fourth inning Tuesday at Petco Park.