Carson Benge's arm the difference-maker in Mets' 2-1 win over Padres

NEW YORK -- The San Diego Padres must have left the defensive report on Mets right fielder Carson Benge back in Cleveland.

They quickly learned the hard way that New York's rookie outfielder has one of baseball's most dangerous arms, getting cut down at home twice in the opening inning of Monday's 2-1 loss at Citi Field.

San Diego's lineup jumped on Mets right-hander Nolan McLean early, putting runners on first and second with one out in the first. Ty France dunked in a third consecutive single to right, and Jake Cronenworth rounded third looking to score the game's first run. Instead, the second baseman was gunned down by Benge, who unleashed a perfect 99.9 mph dart to the plate.

Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill followed with a single to right on an 0-2 curveball, giving San Diego its fourth straight single. 

Benge couldn't possibly do it again, right? He did. 

Benge charged the sharp liner and fired a 103.9 mph strike to Francisco Alvarez to nab Manny Machado to end the frame. The assist to retire Machado would be his ninth of the season (fourth in the majors) and became the third-hardest outfield assist tracked by Statcast since 2015, only trailing Aaron Hicks (105.5 mph in 2016) and Brett Phillips (104.0 mph in 2017). The 23-year-old also became the first player in the Statcast era with two outfield assists at 99-plus mph in a single inning. 

Benge ranks above the 95th percentile in Arm Value (3) and Arm Strength (95.5 mph) according to Baseball Savant.

The defensive clinic didn't stop there.

An inning later, Cronenworth grounded a single the opposite way for his second hit in as many innings, and Padres third-base coach Bob Henley decided the third time would indeed be the charm. He was wrong.

Left fielder A.J. Ewing launched a one-hop strike to the plate for New York's third outfield assist of the night, this time throwing out Xander Bogaerts to end the second inning.

Across the first two innings, San Diego had seven consecutive batters reach base but managed to push across just one run, a frustrating result for one of the hottest teams in baseball.

The Padres entered Monday's matchup winners of seven of their last eight, including three consecutive series victories over the surging Houston Astros, MLB-leading Milwaukee Brewers and scrappy Cleveland Guardians. 

Walker Buehler looked to keep the momentum rolling after a strong start in Tuesday's win over Milwaukee. After allowing two runs in the first, the veteran right-hander settled in, tossing five hitless innings while striking out four. Despite turning in one of his best performances as a Padre, San Diego's offense failed to provide enough run support, resulting in Buehler's sixth loss of the season.

The Padres (67-59) maintains a one-game lead over the division-rival Arizona Diamondbacks for the third and final National League Wild Card spot following Arizona's 11-1 blowout loss to the Boston Red Sox. The D-backs also made headlines off the field, placing star second baseman Ketel Marte on the restricted list after he did not report for Monday's game at Fenway Park.

San Diego will look to even the series Tuesday as Robbie Ray (10-7, 3.28 ERA) searches for his first win in a Padres uniform while New York counters with fellow southpaw Zac Thornton (3-3, 2.78 ERA).