SAN DIEGO — Carson Benge is Mr. Everything for the Mets these days, improving steadily as his first major league season progresses.

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Defense, baserunning and hitting are all components of Benge’s toolbox that have fast transformed the outfielder into a National League Rookie of the Year candidate.

On Sunday he was the biggest factor in the Mets salvaging a .500 road trip. Benge’s 5-for-5 afternoon led to a 7-3 victory over the Padres, giving the Mets their first road series victory since May 7.

“Today was nice,” Benge said. “It’s tough enough to get two hits, let alone five, so doing that was pretty special.”

The Mets had a third solid offensive showing in four days, totaling 13 hits and giving bulk reliever Sean Manaea and the bullpen a cushion.

Benge’s road trip included a steal of home Wednesday in Seattle. He and A.J. Ewing have energized the Mets defensively with their fearless outfield play.

Benge’s fourth hit of the day was a solo homer in the sixth against lefty Yuki Matsui that increased the Mets’ lead to 6-2. In his next at-bat, he stroked an RBI triple.

“Rockets pretty much everywhere,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Using the middle of the field, staying short, on top of the baseball and the left-on-left homer, it was just pretty incredible.”

Benge, who became the first Mets rookie with five hits in a game since Pete Alonso in 2019, singled in each of his plate appearances before the homer. Since the start of May, he owns an .873 OPS and has stabilized the leadoff spot with Francisco Lindor on the injured list.

“We’re going to see a lot of games like this, where he’s locked in and doing a lot of things to help us win baseball games,” Mendoza said.

Manaea allowed two earned runs on four hits and one walk over four innings. Brooks Raley, A.J. Minter and Luke Weaver combined to pitch three scoreless innings before Devin Williams surrendered a run in the ninth.

Huascar Brazobán served as the opener ahead of Manaea and navigated a scoreless first inning after walking Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill in succession to start his afternoon.

Juan Soto’s RBI groundout in the first inning gave the Mets a 1-0 lead. Benge singled leading off the game and Bo Bichette doubled him to third. Soto’s RBI was his 30th of the season.

Marcus Semien extended the lead to 2-0 with a homer leading off the second. It was the second straight game with a homer for Semien, whose shot in the seventh inning Saturday night put the Mets ahead before Austin Warren surrendered a go-ahead blast in the bottom of the inning.

MJ Melendez provided a defensive boost in the bottom of the frame with a full-extension diving catch in left to rob Miguel Andujar of a hit following Xander Bogaerts’ leadoff single.

Jared Young’s RBI single in the fifth widened the Mets advantage, and Ewing’s sacrifice fly with the bases loaded increased the lead to 4-0, but Soto was thrown out at third by Jase Bowen after tagging up at second.

Manaea surrendered a two-run homer to Freddy Fermin in the fifth that brought the Padres to within 4-2. It was the second straight game with a jolt by Fermin, whose homer in the seventh inning Saturday sank the Mets.

Tatis’ boneheaded decision to attempt to steal third base with two outs, after stroking a double, backfired as he was thrown out by Luis Torrens.

Melendez homered in the sixth to give the Mets a 5-2 lead.

The homer was Melendez’s fourth of the season. Benge’s blast later in the inning widened the gap to 6-2. His triple in the eighth gave the Mets their final run.

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Benge said he recovered the ball from his fifth hit and gave it to his father.

“It’s pretty tough to win a series, especially on the road,” Benge said. “But I like the traveling. It brings us all closer.”