Carson Benge leads Mets’ offensive outburst in series finale win over Padres

The Mets closed their road trip with a 7-3 win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday afternoon at Petco Park.

Here are some takeaways…

— After being held to just two runs during the middle-game on Saturday night, the Mets’ offense was able to breakthrough against right-hander Randy Vásquez and the high-powered Padres’ bullpen in this one, striking for seven runs on four walks and 13 hits to secure the series victory.

— New York’s biggest catalysts were at the top of the order. Carson Benge put together a tremendous performance, going 5-for-5 and finishing a double shy of the cycle. The rookie homered left-on-left, then tripled in the eighth after singling in each of his first three at-bats.

— Bo Bichette also stayed hot with another multi-hit game. Bichette immediately followed a first inning Benge single with his third extra base-hit of the road trip off the left-field fence, then ripped a base-hit and scored a run of his own as the Mets pieced together a rally in the top of the fifth.

— Marcus Semien continued swinging a good bat too, homering for the second straight day. The veteran infielder jumped all over a third-pitch hanging slider leading off the second, crushing it 360 feet to deep left to give him eight home runs on the season and a .273 average over his last seven games.

— MJ Melendez received the start in left, and he made his presence felt on both sides of the ball. He made a tremendous diving catch to rob the Padres of extra-bases with a man in the bottom of the second, then lifted a left-on-left solo homer a few batters before Benge followed suit in the sixth.

— Melendez’s catch helped Sean Manaea piece together another strong outing. The lefty retired eight batters in order before San Diego was able to get to him with three straight hits in the eighth, with the big blow being Freddy Fermin‘s second two-run homer in as many days.

Fernando Tatis Jr. followed that with a double to left, but he helped Manaea off the hook, inexcusably getting gunned down trying to steal third to end the inning. Manaea allowed just the two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out three across four innings of work, giving him a 3.43 ERA over his last seven appearances.

— Brooks Raley, A.J. Minter, and Luke Weaver worked through three scoreless innings, Devin Williams gave up a two out run-scoring knock to Fermin in the ninth.

— Weaver was helped out by A.J. Ewing‘s stellar outfield defense to keep his scoreless streak alive, as the youngster raced back into deep left-center to rob the Padres of extra-bases. Ewing also pushed his hitting streak to five games with a ninth inning single.

— New York closed the final West Coast swing of the regular season 3-3 against the Mariners and Padres, and they are now 7-3 over their last 10 games.

Game MVP: Carson Benge

The youngster continues to do a tremendous job setting the table atop the Mets’ lineup.

Highlights