Carson Benge continues to rewrite what a Mets rookie season can look like. The outfielder broke the franchise's single-season rookie hits record on Saturday, collecting his 156th hit of the year to move past Pete Alonso for the top spot. Asked afterward whether he had taken any grief for the check-swing dribbler that got him there, he had a ready answer.

“No, I don't care,” Benge told reporters after the game while wearing a grin. “They don't have the record.”

He earned the right to say it. Benge tied and broke Alonso's mark within two innings at Citi Field, dumping a broken-bat single into shallow right-center in the seventh for No. 155 before rolling a slow one down the third-base line in the eighth. The ball died in fair territory for an RBI infield single, his 156th hit of the season and one more than Alonso's 2019 total.

He doffed his helmet to the crowd as the video board flashed the milestone, then got doused with Gatorade alongside SNY's Steve Gelbs.

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The night was not short on better-looking contact either. Benge homered off Phillies starter Andrew Painter in the second inning, part of a three-hit performance that marked his 12th such game of the season. New York won 10-3, trailing 3-1 before Francisco Alvarez hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the fifth and the offense piled on with four runs in the eighth.

The record caps a rookie year that started miserably. Benge hit .136 through his first 20 games and was batting .189 through April, but he has since hit .294 and settled into the middle of the order. He is slashing .276/.339/.420 on the season with 19 home runs, 61 RBIs and 22 stolen bases.

Benge remains an underdog for National League Rookie of the Year given Sal Stewart's 32-homer, 110-RBI campaign in Cincinnati, though he should draw votes alongside teammates AJ Ewing and Nolan McLean.

Saturday carried other weight for the franchise. The Mets retired Carlos Beltran's number in a pregame ceremony, and longtime broadcaster Howie Rose delivered a farewell on the radio call. His final game is scheduled for Sunday, weather permitting.