Carson

Benge

Benge remained sizzling-hot with a three-hit performance after joining the 20-homer, 20-steal club during Friday’s series opener. The 23-year-old is making a serious late-season push for the NL Rookie of the Year Award, hitting .429 (12-for-28) over his last seven games. He’s going to be an extremely popular mid-round selection in fantasy drafts next season.

Don’t tell Benge there’s only two games left this year because he’s still in midseason form. Two more hits here raised his batting average to a cool .277 and his homer was his 20th. Already with 22 stolen bases, he became the first Met in team history to go 20-20 as a rookie. Getting better as he goes along, a .297/.364/.461 slash line in the second half has catapulted him into the National League Rookie of the Year race and he figures to be a buzzy mid-round pick in drafts next season

Benge hit a ground-rule double and scored on an error in the fourth inning. He later hit an RBI double to put the Mets up 6-3. Benge has three doubles, three home runs and eight RBI in 19 games in September. He’s hitting .277 with a .764 OPS and 62 RBI with five games left in the regular season.

Benge led off the second inning with a solo homer off Andrew Painter to put the Mets on the board. He later drew a walk and scored a run in the sixth and reached for a third time with a single in the seventh. Benge then drove in a run with an infield hit in the eighth, setting the Mets rookie record with 156 hits. The 23-year-old outfielder is one home run away from a 20/20 rookie season; he’s at 19 homers with 81 runs scored, 61 RBI, and 22 steals while slashing .276/.339/.420 across 622 plate appearances.

Benge’s home run was his 18th of the season. He hit a solo shot off Shane Baz in the third inning. Benge has two home runs in his last four games. He’s hitting .272 with a .752 OPS and 58 RBI this year.

In the 9-5 loss today, the top four hitters in the Mets lineup (Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Bo Bichette and Benge) combined to go 0-for-17 with no walks, compared to 5-for-16 with a homer and four walks for the bottom five hitters. Benge has gone seven straight games without an extra-base hit or an RBI.

Benge’s home run was his 16th of the season. He hit a solo shot off White Sox reliever Tyler Schweitzer in the fifth inning. Benge’s home run gives him five home runs in his last 16 games and he’s 22-for-63 (.349) with 12 RBI in that span. He’s hitting .276 with a .761 OPS and 53 RBI this year.

Benge didn’t have the chance to throw out anyone on the bases today, so he had to find some other way to help the Mets win. The homer was his 15th of the year. Four of them have come while he’s hit .311 in 16 games this month.

Benge drew a walk in the first inning, then led off the bottom of the sixth with a solo homer off Tom Cosgrove. Benge would later draw his second walk of the game in the eighth. The 23-year-old outfielder has had a stellar rookie campaign, hitting .275/.338/.419 with 14 homers, 63 runs scored, 49 RBI, and 18 steals across 488 plate appearances.

Benge was held out of the lineup on Saturday after Benge injured his wrist while colliding with the outfield wall while making a sliding catch during Friday’s affair. He tried to talk his way into the lineup on Saturday and was unsuccessful, but it looks as though he got his wish on Sunday. Benge will bat cleanup against Pirates’ right-hander Jared Jones.