New York Mets rookie outfielder Caron Benge had the Citi Field faithful on their feet early in their Monday night matchup against the San Diego Padres.
The Padres had runners on second and first in the first inning with Ty France at the plate. France lobbed one to right-center field when Benge fielded the ball and saw that Jake Cronenworth was headed home.
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Benge gathered himself and fired the ball home and was able to get Cronenworth with ease. Benge wasn’t there.
Jackson Merrill also hit a sharp one to Benge. The outfielder gathered his momentum and fired the ball to home plate once again – this time, he got Manny Machado trying to test his arm. Benge was responsible for two of the first three Padres outs.
Statisticians Sarah Langs and Jason Bernard noted the historical nature of Benge’s outfield assists. Benge threw the ball to the plate at 99.9 mph and 103.9 mph on the two outs respectively. He became the first outfielder with two assists of at least 99 mph in the Statcast era (since 2015).
"I just looked up and threw the ball. I’m not worried that they are running or not," Benge said after the game, via MLB.com. "I try to throw as hard as I can to be able to make them stop or get them out. … I feel like anytime anyone makes a good throw to end an inning or have a quicker out, it shifts the momentum in our favor."
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The Mets also got a defensive assist from rookie left fielder A.J. Ewing. In the second inning, the Padres tested Ewing’s arm. Cronenworth found a hole through the third baseman and the shortstop when Xander Bogaerts tried to scamper home.
However, Ewing was shallow enough in left field and took care of Bogaerts.
The Padres were only able to score one run in the entire game thanks to the Mets’ dazzling defensive plays. New York won the game, 2-1.
Mets starter Nolan McLean struck out three in six innings of work.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
