SAN DIEGO — Padres leadoff hitter Luis Arraez‘s streak of plate appearances without a strikeout ended at 141 when he went down swinging against Houston Astros rookie right-hander Spencer Arrighetti in San Diego’s 3-1 win on Monday night.
Arraez’s strikeout to end the second inning was his first since Aug. 10.
The streak tied Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn for the fifth longest in the last 40 seasons. Gwynn, who played his entire career with the Padres, also went 141 plate appearances without striking out spanning the 1995 and 1996 seasons. The longest streak is Gwynn’s 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.'”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: www.espn.com