HOUSTON — There was a scary injury. There was some chaos and confusion.
There was a two-run lead squandered for the second straight night.
And then another Fernando Tatis Jr. home run sailed over the outfield wall in a hurry, setting things at least temporarily back on course for a team whose road trip has begun with some bumps.
Tatis’ longest home run of the season, 427 feet and into the batter’s eye beyond center field in the seventh inning, provided the difference in Sunday’s 3-2 win over the Astros.
The game began horribly for the Padres, whose 16-6 record remains tops in the major leagues despite their losing the first two games of the series here and their continuing to lose important players.
This time, Luis Arraez was carted off the field strapped to a stretcher board following a collision in the first inning.
Tatis began the game with a walk, then Arraez laid down a sacrifice bunt. He ran full-speed into Astros second baseman Mauricio Dubón, who was covering first base and had just received the throw from pitcher Framber Valdez as he crossed the bag.
Arraez crumpled to the ground after running into Dubón. Arraez’s face appeared to smash into Dubón’s shoulder, and the much smaller Arraez fell backward with his eyes closed.
First base coach Dave Macias immediately knelt next to a motionless Arraez, who was lying on his side, as a member of the Astros medical staff bounded out of the nearby dugout. Arraez soon rolled onto his back as Padres athletic trainers and manager Mike Shildt sprinted from the third-base dugout.
Tatis walked over from his spot on second base and stood beside Dubón. Manny Machado, who was on deck, also walked down the first-base line, where he and Tatis knelt for several minutes.
Arraez eventually grabbed athletic trainer Mark Rogow’s hand and held it until he was loaded in the cart on the stretcher board and with a brace affixed to his neck.
Shildt, Machado and Tatis bowed their heads and Shildt appeared to pray while emergency medical technicians prepared to put Arraez on the board. Before Arraez was driven off, Shildt leaned over him and patted him on the chest. Arraez reached up and briefly grabbed the back of Shildt’s neck.
Shildt said after Sunday’s win that all tests were narrative and that Arraez has no fractures. He was initially unaware of his surroundings in the field and will continue to undergo cognitive testing.
Arraez was in the Padres’ clubhouse following Sunday’s win, smiling and chatting with teammates. On the advice of the Padres’ medical staff, he did not speak with the media.
“Best-case scenario with Luis,” Shildt said. “Obviously, very scary. … Everything clear, stable on the initial testing. We’ve been burned before on testing, so we’ll be cautiously optimistic. He did have a period where he wasn’t aware where he was, so that’s clearly concerning. But everything’s coming back to him now. His initial testing from a concussion standpoint is favorable. We’re not out of the woods, but it all things considered, it’s a blessing.”
Arraez remained in Houston on Sunday night. Provided he continues to feel good, he will join the team in Detroit on Monday.
“It was just a sad moment, especially getting close to him and seeing him on the ground like that, Tatis said. “ You definitely get scared. You almost are going to tears, but just sit down right next to him and you start praying for him right away. Just happy he’s back with us already and just happy he’s just standing up.”
The game resumed after a delay of about 15 minutes, and Machado worked a 12-pitch walk.
It appeared the long half-inning would end quickly on a double play grounder by Xander Bogaerts. But the throw to first by Dubón was low and got away from first baseman Christian Walker, making Bogaerts safe as Tatis ran around third and sprinted home.
Oscar Gonzalez followed with a double lined to the corner in left field that sent Bogaerts sprinting to third base as coach Tim Leiper frantically waved him home. But Bogaerts turned to look back toward left field and stopped, seemingly never seeing Leiper, and the inning ended on a fly ball to right field by Yuli Gurriel.
Tatis would also sprint in the third inning after hitting a groundball inside the bag at first base and down the line, past right fielder Cam Smith and all the way to the corner as Tatis sprinted around the bases and arrived at third standing up.
Gavin Sheets, who replaced Arraez, followed with a grounder to the right side that bounced off the glove of a diving Walker for an RBI single.
Padres starter Dylan Cease did not allow a baserunner in the first two innings. He stranded a runner at second base in the third and another in the fourth before the Astros tied the game in the fifth.
Meyers, whose single in the third had been the first hit off Cease, led off the fifth inning with a double. He went to third on a single by Smith and scored on a single that Dubón flared into center field, where second baseman Jose Iglesias got his glove on the ball before it fell to the ground.
Cease struck out Jose Altuve before walking Isaac Paredes to load the bases. The tying run came in on a sacrifice fly by Yordan Alvarez before the inning ended on a groundout.
Cease took 31 pitches to navigate that inning, and he was replaced by Alek Jacob to start the sixth.
The Padres threatened to give him a lead when Machado and Bogaerts began the inning with singles.
But after a fielder’s choice grounder by Gonzalez put runners at the corners with one out, Yuli Gurriel’s fly ball to center field was too shallow for Machado to try to score, and Jose Iglesias grounded out.
After Tatis’ blast, Jacob got the first out in the bottom of the seventh.
Shildt then went to Jason Adam, who got the final two outs of that inning and had to get four in the eighth when his sweeper that ended a strikeout of Jeremy Peña bounced past catcher Martín Maldonado and Peña ran to first base.
Adam retired the next two batters and Robert Suarez worked a 1-2-3 ninth to move back atop MLB with nine saves.
Originally Published: April 20, 2025 at 4:41 PM PDT
