Benge-Worthy Mets Take Game and Series from Padres

Mets 4 Padres 2 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)

Mets record: 58-70

Mets streak: Lost 1

WP - Nate Lavender (1-0)

LP - Michael King (8-9)

S- Kodai Senga (4)

Seat on the Korner: Carson Benge

We select a Star of the Game and virtually invite him to take his Seat on the Korner — just as Ralph Kiner did on WOR-TV Channel 9 during the early days of the New York Mets.

Continuing the tradition of Rheingold Beer sponsoring Kiner’s Korner, this season every seat is proudly presented by The Main Event Restaurant & Sports Bar.

With locations in Plainview and Farmingdale, The Main Event features 80+ HD TVs, fresh daily seafood, and Black Angus certified steaks—so you never have to choose between great food and the big game.

The Mets did nothing against Padres starter, Michael King, in the first three innings of Wednesday's game. The first time through the lineup, King retired all 9 batters he faced, two by strikeout. Mets manager, Andy Green, then challenged Mets rookie outfielder, Carson Benge, telling him "it's time to do something." And that's exactly what he did.

With 2 outs and a runner on first, Benge tucked a flyball just inside the left field foul pole for an opposite field home run that gave the Mets a 2-0 lead. It was Benge's 15th HR. A few innings later, Benge collected his second hit, an infield single.

Since May 1st, Benge is batting .293 with 13 HRs, 45 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases. His performance over that span has earned him some measure of consideration for NL Rookie of the Year.

Need to Know

• The Mets won 5 of the 6 games in this homestand.

• They are now 15-8 over their last 23 games , and a major league best (only slightly better than the Padres) 11-4 in their last 15.

• This was the Mets 17th series win of the season, and their 10th at home.

• The Mets have hit 59 home runs in their last 42 games, dating back to July 1st.

• The Mets have had eight players make their Major League debut this year: OF Carson Benge, OF A.J. Ewing, LHP Nate Lavender, OF Nick Morabito, RHP Matt Seelinger, LHP Zac Thornton, RHP Jack Weisenburger and LHP Jefry Yan.

• The Mets had nine players make their Major League debut in 2025.

  
  

• One night after Bo Bichette reached 500 RBIs, he continued his red hot August as he now has hit safely in eight of his last nine games and with his two doubles is batting .349 in August.

• Tonight, Luis Torrens went 2-for-3 with a home run and an RBI, and he is now batting .500 (4-for-8) with two home runs, three RBI and a walk on the current homestand, following a .462 (6-for-13) road trip with three homers, eight RBI, three walks, a stolen base and two strikeouts, while extending his current hitting streak to four games at .400 (4-for-10) with three home runs, four RBI and four runs scored.

• Catcher Luis Torrens fouled a ball of his right knee in the bottom of the third inning. After being examined by trainers he stayed in the game, albeit in some pain. Of course, he grounded out during that AB, and had to run to first to try to beat it out. All things considered he did quite well, even though he was out.

• The Mets were 0-11 with runners in scoring position tonight,

•  Overall, the Mets are 29-35 at home this season.

• The Mets have now won 10 of their 14 games. The Padres have won 9 of their last 12.

• The Mets are now 23-23 since Andy Green took over for Carlos Mendoza.

• The rubber game of the series is tomorrow at 1:10 pm with RHP Michael King (8-8, 3.41) taking on RHP Robert Stock (0-2, 6.57)

  
  

Turning Point

Some turning points are obvious in the moment; a game-winning home run, a strikeout in a big moment, a clutch home run robbery...All events that are worth watching on replay, or in some cases over and over again. Tonight's turning point was not quite that impressive-looking, but in a one-run game, it loomed quite large. Unfortunately, a clip of the play is not easy to see. After only mustering 2 runs through the first 7th inning (both of which came in on the earlier-mentioned Carson Benge HR), and clinging to a one-run lead, the Mets were in desperate need of some insurance runs. Fortunately, with just 1 out in the 8th inning, New York was about to send up the top of the Mets lineup. Right on cue, AJ Ewing walked and Francisco Lindor singled to left. This brought Bo Bichette to the plate. If you've been following the Mets over the last few months (and I recognize that's a big IF, for some), you may have noticed that Bichette has been the most reliable bat in the lineup for some time. Wednedsay however, wasn't one of those times. Sort of. With runners on first and third, Bichette hit a relatively slow ball to the Padres short stop, Sung Mun-Song, who rushed the double-play attempt and threw the ball towards right field. Ewing scored, Lindor and Bichette moved into scoring position, and the once-confident Mets were able to increase their lead a bit.

Three Keys

Taking Stock

Mets starting pitcher, Robert Stock , weaved his way into and out of trouble early in in Wednesday's game. Through just two innings, Stock had given up 3 walks and an HBP. Things did settle down for him in the third, as he struck out the side. The following inning, Stock pitched another 1-2-3 frame, this time with just one strikeout.

Things got a bit tougher for Stock in the 5th, as leadoff double by Xander Bogaerts, shorly-followed by a Fernando Tatis , Jr. double that cut the Mets lead in half. This also knocked Stock out of the game.

All in all, he finshed with 4.1 innings pitched, giving up 1 run on 2 hits with 3 walks and 6 Ks.

All Roads Lead to Senga

Despite the incredibly disappointed season, to date, the Mets bullpen has been a remarkable strength, and Wednesday was no different. As noted above, starter Robert Stock went the first 4.1 innings before being removed.

This opened the door for Jonathan Pintaro, Nate Lavender, Austin Warren (reinstated from the IL just prior to the game, Daniel Duarte, and Kodai Senga. This names might not strike fear in the hearts of their opponents, but they probably should. In this case, Mets relievers who pitched from the 5th inning through the 8th gave up just one hit over 4.2 innings, walking 1 and striking out 3. And while Senga ran into a little bit of trouble in the 9th, he was able to shut the door on the rally after giving up 1 run on 2 hits with 1 walk, earning his 4th save (out of 4 chances) this season.

Forever Young

Mets first baseman, Jared Young is really putting together a relatively nice season. When the Mets signed Young as a free agent prior to the 2025 season, it was understandable that it didn't come with much fanfare. Following a couple short and somewhat unsuccessful stints with the Cubs in the majors and Cardinals in the minors, Young went on to play for the Doosan Bears in South Korea. He put up impressive numbers with the Bears in 2024, his lone season in the KBO, and returned to the US to play for the Mets.

His 2025 Mets season was limted to 22 games during which he didn't do too much to replicated his KBO sucess. For the last few weeks, however, Young has been an important of the Mets new winning ways.

Since July 1st, Young is batting .304, with 2 home runs, 6 RBIs, and 11 runs scored. Over the last week, Young is batting .400 (8-for-20), with a HR and 4 RBIs. On the season, Young's batting .270, with 8 HRs, 30 RBIs, and a .784 OPS. On Wednesday, Young's 9th inning single brought in the Mets 4th run of the tame, giving them just enough breathing room going into the top of the 9th with a 4-1 lead.