Benge Blast Gives Mets Series Win Over San Diego

 

Carson Benge knocking a single in the seventh inning. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Mets beat the San Diego Padres, 4-2, on Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field to take two of three in their series and cap a homestand in which the Mets won five out of six games.

It started with a sweep of the Washington Nationals last weekend, and the Mets have now won 11 of their last 15 games overall to give a glimmer of hope in a congested National League Wild Card race.

This one was a pitchers' duel, as the Mets' Robert Stock worked around three walks and a hit batsman to keep San Diego hitless through four innings, while San Diego's Michael King was perfect through three innings.

A.J. Ewing delivered the Mets their first hit of the game to lead off the fourth, but he was erased in a double play hit into by Francisco Lindor.

Bo Bichette drew a walk to keep the inning alive for Carson Benge.

The Mets' right fielder worked it to a 3-2 count, and on the seventh pitch of the at-bat, he connected on a sinker.

Benge launched it the other way to left field, and it was tailing to the corner, and it just snaked inside the foul pole for a two-run home run to suddenly give the Mets a 2-0 lead.

Carson Benge pointing to the sky when he touched the plate after rounding the bases on his home run. Photo by Jason Schott.

It was the Mets' right fielder's 15th homer of the year, and also gave him 51 RBI.

While Benge is hitting .272 for the year, he has turned it up in his last 15 games, as he has a .316 average and a .381 on-base percentage, with four home runs and 10 RBI.

San Diego got one back in the top of the fifth, as Xander Bogaerts led off with a double, and came in to score when Fernando Tatis Jr. knocked a double of his own to make it 2-1.

That chased Stock from the game, and Jonathan Pintaro came on to walk Jake Cronenworth before he got Manny Machado to bounce into a double play.

Stock went 4 1/3 innings, and allowed just the one run on two hits and three walks, with six strikeouts. He got a no-decision since he didn't complete five innings, but he lowered his ERA (earned run average) to 5.40.

This was Stock's fourth start of the year in his return to the Mets, after making a couple of starts in 2021, also to a 5.40 ERA. His career began with San Diego, when he appeared in a career-high 32 games, all relief appearances, in 2018, when he threw 39.2 innings, with a 1-1 record and a 2.50 ERA. The next year, he made 10 appearances with a  10.13 ERA, and has had a peripatetic career since then, with time spent with the Mets, Boston, and the Chicago Cubs.

The Mets added to their lead in the eighth inning. Ewing led off the inning with a walk, stole second base, went to third on a single by Lindor, and then came in on a fieler's choice by Bichette. Benge bounced into a fielder's choice before Jared Young singled home Bichette to make it 4-1 Mets.

San Diego got a run back in the ninth against new Mets closer Kodai Senga, as Gavin Sheets got an RBI single before Austin Hays grounded into a double play to end it.