One day teams will stop running on Carson Benge. Monday was not that day.

Benge threw out back-to-back runners at the plate in the first inning of the Mets’ 2-1 win over the Padres at Citi Field.Fellow rookie A.J. Ewing nailed a runner at home to end the second. The Mets (57-69) have won four in a row and 10 of 13.

The Padres had seven straight batters reach base over the first and second innings yet didn’t score.

To end the first: Single, single, single (Benge assist No. 1), single (Benge assist No. 2 to end the inning). To start the second: Walk, hit batter, walk. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Nolan McLean (9-8) induced a comebacker and forced a runner at home. San Diego finally broke through with a Fernando Tatis Jr. sacrifice fly.

Jake Cronenworth followed with a single to left, and Ewing did his best Benge impersonation. Francisco Alvarez made a nice play on the receiving end to field the one-hop throw cleanly and tag a head-first-sliding Xander Bogaerts.

While the season is lost, the games can still be useful proving grounds for players like McLean who figure to play prominent roles next year.

The Padres, a hot-hitting team with everything to play for, make for an excellent test. San Diego (67-59) entered Monday leading MLB in OPS (.803) since the All-Star break, winners of 17 of 22 and tied with the Phillies for the final two playoff spots. (The Mets rank 10th in OPS at .744 since the break.)

While the defense gave McLean a lot of help (he also helped himself on defense, snagging a line drive back at him to open the game), he settled down after the first two eventful innings. The final line: one run on six hits over six innings, four walks, a hit batter and three strikeouts. He made it through six innings for the 10th time in 11 starts and lowered his ERA to 3.34.

The Mets scored twice in the first on a Bo Bichette RBI single and a Luis Robert Jr. sacrifice fly.

Jonathan Pintaro pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, and Nate Lavender retired the only two batters he faced to end the eighth. Daniel Duarte finished off the Padres with a perfect inning and two strikeouts to earn his second save.

Player of the Game

More on Carson’s cannon: The second outfield assist was clocked at 103.9 mph, the third-fastest OF assist in the Statcast era, which began in 2015, per Sarah Langs of MLB. The fastest was Aaron Hicks (105.5 in 2016) of the Yankees, and second was Brett Phillips (104.0 in 2017) of the Brewers.

The first assist came in at 99.9 mph, making him the first with two 99 mph+ OF assists in an inning in the Statcast era, per Langs. Bradley Zimmer (Cleveland in 2017) is the only other player to have two such assists in a game.

Benge went 1-for-3 at the plate.

On Deck

A rookie lefty vs. a crafty veteran lefty. Zac Thornton (3-3, 2.78 ERA) will face Robbie Ray (10-7, 3.28 ERA) at 7:10 p.m. ET on SNY. Thornton, 24, has allowed three earned runs or less in seven of his eight starts. Ray will make his third start for the Padres. He was dealt from San Francisco to San Diego for two minor leaguers at the trade deadline.