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.

NEW YORK — Mets had been 0-for-2, which extended his hitless streak to 12 at-bats before stepping to the plate in the fifth inning in Friday’s 4-3 win against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citi Field. Unlike in Thursday’s 4-1 win,

In his third plate appearance of the evening, New York fans gave the Dominican star a standing ovation, as they hoped to give him a spark amid a one-run Mets deficit. Their gesture seemingly worked, with Soto hitting Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas' 84 MPH changeup for a game-tying RBI single.