Benge's Seventh-Inning Double Sinks Atlanta, Mets Win 3-2

Carson Benge's two-out double to right in the seventh inning swung the win probability from 56% to 78% and handed the Mets a 3-2 victory over Atlanta on July 29. Matt Olson had erased a two-run deficit with a 402-foot homer to center in the sixth, but New York answered immediately and didn't look back.

The Mets built their lead the old-fashioned way in the fifth — manufacturing two runs without a home run. Francisco Alvarez doubled to left, scoring Taylor and moving Baty to third, then A.J. Ewing followed with a sacrifice fly to center to plate Baty. Just like that, New York was up 2-0, and Sean Manaea was cruising through Atlanta's lineup. Manaea went 6.0 innings, allowing 5 hits and 2 earned runs while striking out 4 — a workmanlike outing that gave the bullpen a clean runway.

Atlanta's answer came in the sixth and it was emphatic. Olson — who finished 1-for-4 on the night — launched a 402-foot shot to center that scored Drake Baldwin and tied the game at 2. It was the kind of swing that looks like it can flip a game's entire complexion, and for one inning, it did. Baldwin had been one of Atlanta's steadier contributors, going 2-for-4, and Eli White also went 2-for-2, so the Braves weren't without their bright spots. But the offense couldn't sustain the momentum past that one big swing.

The seventh is where this game was decided. Benge, who finished 2-for-4, lined a double to right that scored Ewing and pushed Lindor to third, restoring New York's lead at 3-2 and sending the win probability from 56% to 78% in a single at-bat. That 22-point swing was the story of the night — Atlanta had just tied things up an inning earlier, and Benge immediately took the air out of any Braves rally. Luke Weaver and Devin Williams each threw a scoreless inning of relief to close it out, each allowing just one hit and striking out one, and the Mets held on for the final margin. AJ Smith-Shawver lasted only 4.1 innings for Atlanta, giving up 4 hits and 2 earned runs — the kind of abbreviated start that forces a bullpen to work, and on a night when New York's late-inning arms were sharp, that appears to have been the difference.