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

SAN DIEGO (AP) — 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.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

San Diego Padres' Manny Machado takes off his helmet after getting caught stealing second base during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres' Jurickson Profar celebrates after hitting a home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres' Jurickson Profar celebrates after hitting a home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres' Jurickson Profar tosses his bat after hitting a home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Houston Astros' Yordan Alvarez watches his RBI single during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish works against a Houston Astros batter during the first inning of a baseball game Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish works against a Houston Astros batter during the first inning of a baseball game Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish works against a Houston Astros batter during the first inning of a baseball game Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres' Jackson Merrill celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres' Jackson Merrill celebrates after hitting a home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Houston Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron, right, gestures as he is ejected by home plate umpire Brian O'Nora, left, during the sixth inning a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres' Luis Arraez, center, talks with Manny Machado, left after being tagged out trying to score from second base on a single by Jurickson Profar during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros as home plate umpire Brian O'Nora looks on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres' Luis Arraez, left, is tagged out by Houston Astros catcher Victor Caratini, after trying to score from second base on a single by Jurickson Profar during the fifth inning of a baseball game Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres' Luis Arraez walks toward the dugout after striking out during the second inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres' Luis Arraez strikes out during the second inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish works against a Houston Astros batter during the first inning of a baseball game Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A man used construction equipment to drop a heavy boom lift onto a sculpture that has stood for 25 years outside St. Louis' Cathedral Basilica, badly damaging it, police said.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the Angel of Harmony, which stood 14 feet (4.3 meters) tall and depicts a Black angel protecting three children of various races, could be saved. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that part of one of the children was broken off and the angel's wings appeared to be damaged.

The motive for Tuesday night’s vandalism was unknown, said police, who arrested a 35-year-old suspect.

The Angel of Harmony, created by Polish sculptor Wiktor Szostalo, was installed in 1999, months after Pope John Paul II's visit to St. Louis. The angel's wings include more than 100 wind chimes and the children are playing instruments. The pedestal is inscribed with quotes from the New Testament, Pope John Paul II and Martin Luther King Jr.

“The Angel of Harmony has graced the grounds of our city’s Cathedral Basilica since 1999, as a joyful reminder that our diversity is something to be celebrated, that truth, beauty and goodness unite us all,” St. Louis Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski said in a statement. “We need to be reminded of that daily. We are still learning about the extent of the damage, with great hope that this special sculpture can be restored."

Police arrived at the ornate Catholic cathedral in St. Louis' Central West End neighborhood after a caller reported that a man was tampering with construction equipment. The statue had been knocked off its pedestal. Police said the suspect also apparently fired a gunshot into an unoccupied car. It was not clear why.

Surveillance video helped point officers to the man. Officers spotted the him, but he ran off. A police dog helped find the suspect hiding a few blocks from the cathedral.

The man was charged Wednesday with institutional vandalism, two counts of property damage, tampering, unlawful use of a weapon and resisting arrest.

"The Angel of Harmony" sculpture damaged outside the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024 in St. Louis. (Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)