CHICAGO — Carson Benge forged quite a relationship with the right field fence Saturday.
One inning, the Mets rookie was face-planting that fence, attempting to catch a ball hit by Tristan Peters that caromed off his glove for a home run. Before long, Benge would clear that same fence, with a shot mightier than the one he failed to catch.
Benge’s three-hit night — four if you include his face’s collision with the chain links — led the Mets’ 10-5 victory over the White Sox that added another molecule of oxygen to the team’s microscopic hope of a late-season magic trick to reach the playoffs.
The victory was their 12th in 17 games since the trade deadline.
Benge’s big week has included contributions from his right arm (he nailed two runners at the plate in the same inning Monday) and a bat that won’t quit. He began the day with a .905 OPS in August that included a .308 batting average for the month.
The Mets hit five homers on this night, including two by Luis Robert Jr., who is playing in his first series against his former team.
Christian Scott slogged through 4 ²/₃ innings and allowed four earned runs on five hits and four walks, with six strikeouts.
Benge’s two-out RBI single against Luis Castillo in the first inning gave the Mets a fast run after A.J. Ewing singled on the game’s first pitch and stole second.
The stolen base was Ewing’s 18th in 26 tries this season.
Bo Bichette’s second homer in as many games extended the Mets lead to 2-1 in the third inning. Bichette cleared the left-field fence for his 14th homer this season and continued his torrid month — he entered play with a .947 OPS in August.
Robert delivered a two-run homer later in the inning, following Benge’s second single of the game. It was a homecoming moment for Robert — who heard boos as he circled the bases.
Robert spent the first seven seasons of his major league career with the White Sox before he was traded to the Mets in January.
Castillo didn’t survive the inning. The right-hander, acquired from the Mariners at the trade deadline, allowed eight hits and four earned runs over 2 ²/₃ innings, with one walk and three strikeouts. The start was his third in four since the trade in which he failed to complete at least five innings.
Braden Montgomery’s homer in the second inning accounted for the first run of the night against Scott. In the fourth, Benge face-planted the fence pursuing Peters’ shot to right that caromed for a home run. Benge was briefly shaken up and received a visit from the trainer but remained in the game. Scott loaded the bases and Andrew Benintendi’s sacrifice fly sliced the Mets lead to 4-3. But Scott avoided further trouble by retiring Montgomery for the third out.
Benge’s homer leading off the fifth was the start of a three-run inning. Before it concluded, Eric Wagaman and Marcus Semien each stroked an RBI single that increased the Mets lead to 7-3.
Jonathan Pintaro got a huge out in the bottom of the frame, replacing Scott with the bases loaded and striking out Colson Montgomery to end the frame. The White Sox pulled to within 7-4 in the inning on Braden Montgomery’s walk with the bases loaded.
Austin Warren escaped trouble in the sixth after the White Sox had pulled to within 7-5 against Pintaro.
But Robert created breathing room with his second blast of the game, a solo shot in the seventh.
Luis Torrens’ two-run pinch-hit blast in the eighth was the Mets’ fifth homer of the game.
