Padres defeat the Astros, 3-1. Composite Image by Jack Brame.

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 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 lead 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 a knee 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.

“He jammed his knee in the plate,” manager Mike Shildt said. “Reports are stable, sore. You could tell after he legged out the double.”

“What a gamer,” said Shildt, who added that Arraez told him before his at-bat in the seventh, “`I can hit.'”

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.

“He was great. He was really fantastic," Shildt said. “Very efficient, controlled counts, fastball had a life to it. I thought he was vintage Yu. He was tremendous. Got us through six and we could have rode with him more, but he was at that number. He'd done his part.”

Darvish threw 79 pitches.

The tall right-hander said through an interpreter that he felt “pretty good. The two-seamer was working really well and I was able to rely on that heavily. The off-speed pitches were pretty effective as well.”

As far as starting a series with playoff implications, Darvish said: “You try to kind of not put too much pressure on yourself, but obviously, you're going against a really good team so you're super focused and trying to execute pitches.”

Darvish said he's getting closer to having no pitch restrictions.

“I would think so, as far as the number of pitches go,” he said.

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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The Longhorns host Georgia on Saturday night. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

By any measure, from the official statistics to the informal eye test, top-ranked Texas' defense has been dominant.

The Longhorns rank No. 1 in total defense and scoring defense. They are top 10 in first downs allowed, tackles for loss and passing yards. Much of that is built against opponents starting former walk-on quarterbacks ( Michigan ) and freshmen ( Mississippi State and Oklahoma.)

But the level of quarterback play Texas will face, in both talent and experience, is about to get much better over the second half of the season.

Texas hosts No. 5 Georgia on Saturday night in the first matchup of top five teams in Austin since 2006, before playing the next week at Vanderbilt. Bulldogs senior Carson Beck was a preseason first team Associated Press All-America pick, and standout Vanderbilt transfer Diego Pavia has carried the Commodores to a surprising 4-2 start, including a historic win over then-No. 1 Alabama.

Quite simply, Texas hasn't defended this caliber of quarterback all season.

Beck is a player on the doorstep of the NFL, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said.

“There's nothing in the throw game (Beck) can't do,” Sarkisian said. “He's played enough football now, too. It's kind of hard to confuse guys when they've played that much football.”

Texas (6-0, 2-0 SEC) has allowed just one team to pass for more than 200 yards this season. Beck passed for 459 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions last week in a 41-31 win over Mississippi State. His 36 completions set a Georgia record.

Even when Beck struggled early in Georgia's loss to Alabama, he rallied the Bulldogs to a late fourth-quarter lead. He finished with 439 yards in the loss where Georgia's rally ended with an Alabama interception in the end zone in the final minute.

Sarkisian recruited Beck when the Texas coach was an assistant at Alabama. Beck had initially committed to the Crimson Tide before switching to Georgia.

Beck is 18-2 in his career as a starter, and 6-2 against top 20 opponents.

The Bulldogs (5-1, 3-1) will need another exceptional game from him Saturday. A second SEC loss could threaten any chance of playing for the SEC championship, and raise the alarms on the College Football Playoff as well.

Texas has all but overwhelmed opposing quarterbacks so far.

In last week's 34-3 thrashing of rival Oklahoma, the Longhorns sacked Sooners freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. five times, and held him to 27 yards on 20 carries. Texas allowed just 225 total yards.

Hawkins was the first Sooners freshman to start at quarterback against the Longhorns in the 120-year history of the rivalry and was quickly swallowed up by a relentless pass rush.

By the numbers, the Longhorns program is on pace for a historic season. Sarkisian has said his favorite stat is points allowed, which is not many.

Texas has surrendered only three touchdowns all season. Opponents have snatched four turnovers inside Texas territory, but none have produced points.

That ability to snuff momentum can drain an opponent, Sarkisian said.

“We're so composed as a defense,” Texas safety Michael Taaffe said. “We're so confident, that no matter what happens, everything is going to be alright.”

The only time Texas has trailed this season was a 3-0 early deficit against Oklahoma. Several Longhorns starters were still on the field when the Sooners' final drive stalled at the Texas 6-yard-line as the game ended.

The stars emerging for the Longhorns have been second-year linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. and freshman edge rusher Colin Simmons.

Hill leads the team in total tackles (42), sacks (4 1/2) and tackles for loss (8 1/2). His sideline-to-sideline speed and move this season from the edge to the middle of the Texas defense has drawn comparisons to former Longhorns All-American Derrick Johnson 20 years ago.

Simmons has four sacks and 7 1/2 tackles for losses, second on the team in both categories.

“Size, speed,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said in summing up the Texas defense.

“They’re the complete package on defense," Smart said. "The consistency you watch them play with, it reminds me of some of our best teams here.”By any measure, from the official statistics to the informal eye test, top-ranked Texas' defense has been dominant.