San Diego Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish faces a Houston Astros batter during the first inning of a baseball game on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in San Diego.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Yu Darvish had his best game in more than three months, and rookies Jackson Merrill and Jurickson Profar hit home runs as the San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros 3-1 on Monday night.
The Padres took a 2 1/2 game lead over Arizona to win the NL’s first wild card. In the NL West, they trailed the number one Los Angeles Dodgers by 3 1/2 games.
Houston’s lead in the AL West has shrunk to four games over idle Seattle.
Padres leadoff hitter Luis Arraez struck out for the first time since Aug. 10, snapping a streak of 141 plate appearances without whiffing. He was killed by a strikeout against rookie Spencer Arrighetti to end the second inning.
It tied Padres Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn for the fifth-longest streak in the last 40 seasons. Gwynn, who played his entire career with the Padres, had the longest streak, 170 plate appearances in 1995.
Arraez, the DH, later left the game with a knee injury. He was shocked by a slide when he was tagged out at home plate in the fifth inning. Arraez initially stayed in the game and doubled in the seventh, but walked off the field cautiously after being replaced by pinch-runner Tyler Wade.
“He jammed his knee into the plate,” manager Mike Shildt said. “The reports are steady, sore. You could see it after he finished the double.”
“What a gamer,” said Shildt, who added that Arraez told him before his seventh-inning at bat, “`I can hit.’”
Yu Darvish, starting pitcher for the San Diego Padres, works against a Houston Astros batter during the first inning of a baseball game on Monday, September 16, 2024 in San Diego
Darvish (6-3) allowed three hits in six scoreless innings, his longest outing in three starts since a three-month-plus layoff while on the injured and limited lists. He struck out three and walked two.
“He was great. He was really great,” Shildt said. “Very efficient, controlled counts, fastball had life. I thought he was vintage Yu. He was great. He got us through six and we could have ridden him more, but he was on that number. He did his part.”
Darvish threw 79 pitches.
The tall right-hander said through an interpreter that he was feeling “pretty good.” The two-seamer worked really well and I could really rely on it. The off-speed pitches were pretty effective too.”
As for starting a series with playoff implications, Darvish said, “You try not to put too much pressure on yourself, but obviously you’re playing against a really good team, so you’re super focused and trying to execute the pitches.”
Darvish said he is getting closer to having no limitations on the playing field.
“I think so, given the number of pitches,” he said.
Robert Suarez pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 33rd save.
Profar’s leadoff shot in the eighth, his 23rd home run, was his fourth consecutive hit. He fell a triple short of the cycle.
Merrill continued to plead his case for NL Rookie of the Year when he hit Arrighetti’s first pitch of the fourth inning an estimated 413 feet to straight-center field. It was his 24th home run and tied Nate Colbert (1969) for second among Padres rookies. Hunter Renfroe had 26 in 2017.
Colbert’s franchise record of 163 home runs, which had stood since 1974, was broken last week by Manny Macahdo.
Machado hit an RBI double in the first inning.
Jose Altuve doubled for Houston in the eighth inning and scored on a single by Yordan Alvarez.
Arrighetti (7-13) allowed two runs and eight hits in five innings. He struck out three and walked one.
