SAN DIEGO -- Luis Arraez¡¯s remarkable streak is over.

The Padres¡¯ contact king struck out for the first time since Aug. 10 in the second inning of San Diego¡¯s 3-1 victory over the Astros on Monday night at Petco Park. Houston right-hander Spencer Arrighetti won a nine-pitch battle by getting Arraez to swing and miss at a 3-2 curveball.

Arraez had gone 141 plate appearances without a strikeout. According to Elias, it was the longest streak since Juan Pierre reached 147 during the 2004 season. Arraez tied Tony Gwynn for the second-longest such streak in Padres history. Only Gwynn¡¯s run of 170 straight plate appearances in 1995 was longer.

¡°I strike out, and I said: ¡®I¡¯ve got two more at-bats,¡¯¡± Arraez said afterward. ¡°Let¡¯s see what happens.¡±

Undeterred, Arraez responded with hits in his final two at-bats -- though he appeared to injure his right knee in the fifth inning while sliding into home plate. After hobbling into second base on a seventh-inning double, Arraez was lifted for a pinch-runner.

Asked after the game how he was feeling, Arraez broke into a grin. Physically? He said he feels OK and hopes to be back in the lineup Tuesday. But¡­

¡°The strikeout? It¡¯s painful,¡± Arraez said. ¡°But [Arrighetti] was nasty. I fought with him. He¡¯s got good stuff.¡±

Even by Arraez¡¯s standards, it was an astounding run. He has still punched out only three times since the All-Star break. He¡¯s barely even swung and missed. During that streak, Arraez had swung and missed only eight times -- before Arrighetti induced three whiffs from Arraez in his first two plate appearances.

¡°I respect that guy a lot, and what he does is absolutely crazy in the game that we play today,¡± Arrighetti said. ¡°It meant a lot to me, for sure. Hats off to him, too. He got me on the same pitch. It¡¯s not like I can just walk away feeling great. It wasn¡¯t an 0-for-3. He still got me."

Indeed, Arraez responded with a fifth-inning single off Arrighetti, then a seventh-inning double against Bryan King. In the process, he raised his 2024 batting average to .323. He is still comfortably atop the race for a third consecutive batting title. Atlanta¡¯s Marcell Ozuna is second in the National League, hitting .302.

That .302 mark is precisely where Arraez¡¯s average sat on Aug. 10, following the game in Miami in which he had last struck out. At the time, he was dealing with the lingering effects of a thumb injury. Since then, he¡¯s hitting .397 and has been a force atop the Padres¡¯ lineup, setting the table for one of the best offenses in baseball.

¡°It¡¯s been a privilege to be a part of it, to watch this guy perform,¡± said Padres manager Mike Shildt. ¡°He¡¯s a magician with the bat in his hand. He¡¯s got this wonderful combination of bat-to-ball skill, and he¡¯s got this tremendous approach.¡±