ATLANTA -- When Carson Benge turned and threw the final out of Monday’s Mets win over the Braves into the Truist Park stands, River Karr didn’t think much of it outside the obvious. Despite being a Braves fan, he was happy to have the souvenir ball.
It was not until the drive back to Athens, Ga., that Karr and his family began seeing social media posts about the ball, which Kodai Senga had used to record his first career save. Karr’s uncle, a Mets fan named Richard Mikulka, posted on social media that he knew the whereabouts of the ball in question.
“Didn’t know what was going to happen,” Karr said.
The next morning, Mikulka received a call. Would he and his family like to return to Truist Park to meet Senga and Benge?
After Karr’s father spent his morning getting new tires on his vehicle, the family made the hour-plus drive back to Atlanta, where Senga and Benge popped out of the clubhouse for pictures and autographs. Karr’s cousin brought along a baseball card for Benge to sign.
The save was the first for Senga, a former starting pitcher who has become the Mets’ de facto closer in the absence of injured right-hander Devin Williams.
“Whenever it’s a first for anything, you don’t really think much of it in the moment or while you’re still playing,” Senga said through an interpreter. “But when you skip ahead in years and retire, then I think it has a lot more meaning. So I wanted to have that.”