Carson Benge is in a league of his own.
The Mets rookie outfielder recorded three hits, including a solo home run, breaking Pete Alonso’s Mets rookie record for hits in a season (156) in the process Saturday in New York. The Mets beat the Phillies 10-3 as the Philadelphia bullpen suffered another meltdown while they continue to struggle down the home stretch of the season.
Benge’s record-breaking hit came on a check-swing dribbler in the eighth inning that scored a run and gave the Mets their final
10-3 advantage. The Mets trailed 3-1 early in the game before Francscico Alvarez hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the fifth inning. The Mets added six more runs against the Phillies bullpen to put the game out of reach.
Christian Scott got the start for the Mets and sailed through the first three innings before running into trouble in the fourth. Bryce Harper led the inning off with a ground-rule double before advancing to third base on a groundout from Luis Arraez. Alec Bohm then knocked an RBI single up the middle. With two on and two outs, J.T. Realmuto hit a liner to the left-center field gap that Juan Soto was able to chase down to end the inning and keep the game tied 1-1.
Harper was back up in the bottom of the fifth against Scott and hit a sacrifice fly to score Kyle Schwarber as Philadelphia took a 2-1 lead. Jefry Yan relieved Christian Scott and gave up a run on another RBI single from Bohm.
Alvarez flipped the game in a big way with his three-run home run in the fifth inning against Phillies starter Andrew Painter. Marcus Semien reached on a lead-off walk, and Brett Baty extended his on-base streak to 13 straight games with a single, before Alvarez blasted his homer. He entered the game on a 0-for-10 streak but went 2-for-4 with a walk.
Despite Painter striking out four straight batters after giving up the home run to Alvarez, Phillies manager Don Mattingly replaced him with former Mets reliever Brooks Raley. The Mets ripped four straight hits against Raley, including an RBI single from Baty. In his first Major-League action since July 6, Ronny Mauricio drew a bases-loaded walk against Chase Shugart to put the Mets up 6-3. Francisco Lindor had a chance for a grand slam, but flied out to deep center to end the inning.
The Mets left no doubt with four more runs in the eighth inning. Lindor earned a bases-loaded walk before Juan Soto, Bo Bichette, and Benge added RBI singles against Phillies reliever Orion Kerkering.
This was Benge’s 11th game with at least three hits in his record-setting rookie campaign. But it wasn’t just Benge that made Saturday a historic day for the Mets. The club retired Carlos Beltran’s number in an emotional pregame ceremony. Meanwhile, longtime voice of the Mets Howie Rose gave a farewell speech on the radio broadcast. His final game behind the microphone is supposed to be Sunday’s, but the chance of rain muddies the outlook for Sunday’s 1:10 PM EDT game. Weather permitting, Jonah Tong is scheduled to start for the Mets in the final game of the Phillies series.
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Win Probability Added
What’s WPA?
Big Mets winner: Francisco Alvarez, +24% WPA
Big Mets loser: Francisco Lindor, -8% WPA
Mets pitchers: +3% WPA
Mets hitters: +47% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Francisco Alvarez’s three-run home run, +25.3% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Alex Bohm’s RBI single, -11.5% WPA
