Astros rookie ends Luis Arráez's streak, preserving Tony Gwynn's Padres record

While most of the attention when it comes to the San Diego Padres has focused their pursuit of a playoff spot, it has been almost as impossible to ignore Luis Arráez's impressive streak with no strikeouts. Starting on Aug. 11, Arráez had gone 136 plate appearances without striking out, which is the longest such streak in a couple decades.

These are the sorts of runs that are rarely seen in baseball anymore as the emphasis on hitting the ball hard, combined with pitchers increasing their velocity, has made the "just make contact" plan easier said than done. Arráez hasn't just been trying not to strike out — he is playing his best baseball of the season right now while also being almost impossible to strike out.

Sadly, the "almost" part of that became important on Monday evening. Arráez finally struck out against Spencer Arrighetti, although the Padres still emerged victorious by the score of 3-1.

Luis Arráez's Padres strikeout streak ends Monday vs Astros

Arráez final tally of plate appearances without a strikeout ended on 141 with a nasty breaking ball from Arrighetti, who was quite pleased to get that one. San Diego managed to make him work at times and force him out of the game after five innings, but sometimes you have to tip your cap to a guy who pitched quite well and had his stuff working.

With the end of Arráez's streak, he officially finishes tied with Tony Gwynn for the fifth-longest such mark in the last 40 years, although Gwynn's 170 plate appearances without a K back in 1995 still reigns supreme.

Again, the Padres won the game over a very tough Astros team thanks to a stellar outing from Yu Darvish and big games from Jurickson Profar, Manny Machado, and Jackson Merrill, so it was fine in the end. However, Arráez was also hurt on a play at the plate that forced him to leave the game early in the seventh inning. After the game, Arráez downplayed the severity of his ailing knee.

How incredibly on-brand for Arráez to mention being mad about striking out while answering an unrelated question. His injury is worth monitoring, but most Padres fans are just looking forward to his next streak and wondering how far San Diego can go this year with Arráez helping at the top of the lineup.

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