The Mets beat the Padres, 2-1, in the opener of a three-game series on Monday night at Citi Field.

Here are the takeaways...

- The Mets immediately got to Padres starter Walker Buehler in the first inning. After A.J. Ewing stroked a single to left-center and Francisco Lindor walked, Bo Bichette found the hole between first and second to drive in Ewing and give New York a 1-0 lead. With one out and the infield in, Luis Robert Jr. fouled three pitches off after getting into a 1-2 hole before lining a sacrifice fly to center field to increase the Mets' advantage to 2-0.

New York's offense went cold after its quick start, with just one batter reaching base from the second through the sixth inning (a third-inning walk by Lindor) as Buehler settled in.

Up 2-1 in the eighth inning, the Mets had a chance to tack on after back-to-back singles from Marcus Semien and Polanco to start the frame. But Francisco Alvarez and Ewing struck out before Lindor grounded out to third base.

- It was a bizarre first inning for Nolan McLean, who allowed four hits (with three of them flared at around 75 mph off the bat) but zero runs. That's because Carson Benge, who entered play Monday with one of the best outfield arms in baseball (in terms of both value and strength) nailed runners at the plate on back-to-back plays.

On the first play, Ty France singled, with Jake Cronenworth thrown out trying to score as Benge nabbed the second out. The next batter, Jackson Merrill, lined a single to right, but Benge came up firing again and nailed Manny Machado at the plate. Benge's throw that got Machado was the third-fastest of the Statcast Era, coming it at 103.9 mph (h/t Sarah Langs).

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