Mets' Carson Benge hits walk-off single but Juan Soto leaves with injury
Mets' Juan Soto is tended to by a trainer during the third inning after fouling a ball off his ankle against the Detroit Tigers at Citi Field on Wednesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
A day that started with bad news about Francsico Alvarez going on the injured list, and began to look bleaker when Juan Soto had to be removed from the game due to pain after fouling a ball off his right foot, ended well for the Mets courtesy of their two rookie outfielders.
Carson Benge laced a one-out walk-off single through the middle to drive in ghost runner A.J. Ewing from second base and give the Mets a 3-2 win in 10 innings before an announced crowd of 33,989 on Wednesday at Citi Field. The Mets have won seven of their last 11 games.
But Mets fans have to hope that the enduring image from the night is the celebration around Benge after his game-winning hit and not Soto down on one knee in pain after fouling a ball off his foot in the third inning He was removed from the game in the seventh.
Carlos Mendoza said Soto had an X-ray that was negative and added, “So we got good news there. He’s day-to-day. We’ll see how [he] comes in tomorrow, whether he’s a player or not for us in the starting lineup.”
Soto wears a shin guard and padding over the end of his foot when he bats. The foul ball hit the top of his foot between the two. When Alvarez was diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his right knee earlier in the day, that made four Mets starting position players who are on the IL.
For Benge it was a redeeming moment after two miscues. In the first inning he didn’t snare Dillon Dingler’s drive and it went for a double to set up Riley Greene’s two-run single. After the Mets tied the game at 2 on a Bo Bichette single in the seventh, Benge was thrown out at the plate attempting a double steal to end the frame.
“It’s baseball — it’s going to happen,” Benge said. “Being able to just try and get the next play, try and get the next out, the next pitch, just really helps me keep my head on straight.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
