Tatis carries Padres' offense to finale win in Houston
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HOUSTON -- On a scary Sunday night for the Padres that saw Luis Arraez carted off the field after a collision at first base, Fernando Tatis Jr. provided something of a pick-¡¯em-up with a tiebreaking home run that carried San Diego to a 3-2 victory over the Astros at Daikin Park and ended a two-game losing streak for the team with baseball¡¯s best record.
Tatis, who extended his hitting streak to nine games and has reached base in each of the Padres¡¯ 21 games this season, scored all three San Diego runs as the Padres improved to 16-6. He walked to lead off the game and was sacrificed to second on the play that resulted in Arraez¡¯s colliding with Astros second baseman Mauricio Dub¨®n at first base. After Manny Machado walked, Tatis scored when Dub¨®n made a bad throw to first while trying to complete a double play.
Tatis tripled to lead off the third and scored on a single by Gavin Sheets, who had replaced Arraez as DH in the lineup, to put the Padres up 2-0.
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After San Diego starter Dylan Cease surrendered two runs in the fifth, Tatis broke the tie by homering off Tayler Scott in the seventh. With one out, Mart¨ªn Maldonado was robbed of extra bases when Jake Meyers caught his line drive while running into the fence in center field. Moments later, Tatis lined another ball to center that, at 108.7 mph with a launch angle of a mere 24 degrees, sailed above Meyers¡¯ reach and over the wall.
The homer was the 135th of Tatis¡¯ career, tying him with Tony Gwynn for sixth place in franchise history.