Darvish throws 6 strong innings, Merrill and Profar homer as the Padres beat the Astros 3-1

 — Yu Darvish had his best outing since being sidelined for more than three months, and rookie Jackson Merrill and Jurickson Profar homered as the San Diego Padres beat the AL West-leading Houston Astros 3-1 on Monday night.

The Padres took a 2 1/2-game lead over Arizona for the top NL wild card and stayed 3 1/2 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.

Houston's advantage in the AL West dropped 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 went down swinging 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 such streak, 170 plate appearances in 1995.

Arraez, the DH, later left the game with an apparent injury. He was shaken up on a slide as he was tagged out at home plate in the fifth. Arraez initially stayed in the game and doubled in the seventh, but walked off the field gingerly after being replaced by pinch-runner Tyler Wade.

Darvish (6-3) allowed three hits in six scoreless innings, his longest outing in three starts since a layoff of more than three months while he was on the injured list and restricted list. He struck out three and walked two.

Robert Suarez pitched a perfect ninth for his 33rd save.

Profar’s leadoff shot in the eighth, his 23rd homer, was his fourth straight hit. He fell a triple shy of the cycle.

Merrill continued to make his case for NL Rookie of the Year when he drove Arrighetti’s first pitch of the fourth an estimated 413 feet to straightaway center field. It was his 24th homer and tied Nate Colbert (1969) for second among Padres rookies. Hunter Renfroe hit 26 in 2017.

Colbert’s franchise record of 163 homers, which had stood since 1974, fell to Manny Macahdo last week.

Machado hit an RBI double in the first.

Jose Altuve doubled leading off the eighth for Houston and scored on Yordan Alvarez's single.

Arrighetti (7-13) allowed two runs and eight hits in five innings. He struck out three and walked one.

UP NEXT

Astros RHP Hunter Brown (11-8, 3.59 ERA) and Padres RHP Michael King (12-9, 3.06) are scheduled to start Tuesday night.

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