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It took until the 16th game — and included some murmurs and groans from fans along the way as a slow start kept dragging on — but Juan Soto finally cleared the Citi Field fence Thursday.

And then he cleared it again two frames later.

Soto, who inked a $765 million megadeal in the offseason, launched his first homer at the Mets’ home ballpark during the sixth inning of their game against the Diamondbacks, connecting on a Zac Gallen cutter and sending it 391 feet over the left-center fence.

He then homered again in the eighth, cutting the Mets’ deficit to 3-2 and giving him five for the season.

His first home run trimmed the Mets’ deficit to 2-1, served as just their second hit of the day against Gallen — Arizona’s ace who had dazzled with seven strikeouts up to that juncture.

Yet, the two blasts weren’t enough in the Mets’ 4-2 loss to the Diamondbacks.

He also snapped a 14-game homerless drought that dated back to April 15, when he homered for a second consecutive game against the Twins.

In the eighth inning, Soto then crushed a four-seam fastball from Diamondbacks reliever Kevin Ginkel 399 to nearly the same spot in left-center pulling the Mets within 3-2.

Compared to 2024 with the Yankees, this had been an uncharacteristic 30-game start for Soto, but manager Carlos Mendoza kept reiterating his faith in the superstar outfielder. He hadn’t noticed Soto pressing. The exit velocity — evident again Thursday with a 110 mph groundout in the first inning — hadn’t dipped.

And finally, in one swing and one ball that kept traveling, Mendoza and the Mets received a bit of validation.