Houston Astros vs. San Diego Padres: Game player stats and box scores for September 16 

The Houston Astros faced the San Diego Padres in the opening game of their three-game series. Both teams are still fighting for a spot in the playoffs as they battle in Petco Park. Spencer Arrighetti started for Houston against veteran pitcher Yu Darvish.

San Diego took an early lead as Manny Machado drove in Jurickson Profar with an RBI double. Darvish started well by holding his opponent down. Despite a rough start, Arrighetti ended Luis Arraez's longest streak without a strikeout. Arrighetti then struck out Arraez in the bottom of the second inning. The Padres are now ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Wild Card race.

Jose Altuve recorded a base hit in the third inning and stole second base with ease. However, Darvish worked his way around again for the Padres.

Houston Astros vs. San Diego Padres: Game and player stats

Houston Astros player stats

HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	SO	LOB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	FPTS
J. Altuve 2B	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	2	.302	.357	.447	.804	6.0
Y. Alvarez DH	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	.308	.392	.566	.958	2.0
Y. Diaz 1B	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.298	.325	.446	.770	-0.5
K. Tucker RF	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	.266	.391	.564	.955	1.0
A. Bregman 3B	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	.254	.311	.440	.751	-0.5
V. Caratini C	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	.273	.340	.407	.747	0.5
J. Pena SS	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	.270	.309	.400	.710	1.0
J. heyward LF	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	.202	.281	.384	.665	0.5
M. Dubon CF	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	.269	.296	.364	.661	1.0
a- J. Singleton PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.238	.321	.392	.713	0.0
J. Meyers CF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.222	.287	.363	.651	0.0
Total	33	1	6	1	0	2	4	12	-	-	-	-	-

PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	WHIP	FPTS
S. Arrighetti	5.0	8	2	2	1	3	1	4.68	1.43	0.5
B. King	1.2	1	0	0	1	2	0	1.90	1.01	4.0
T. Scott	1.0	3	1	1	0	1	1	2.23	1.17	-0.5
C. Ferguson	0.1	1	0	0	0	0	0	4.18	1.49	0.0
Total	8.0	13	3	3	2	6	2	-	-	-

San Diego Padres player stats

HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	SO	LOB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	FPTS
L. Arraez DH	4	0	2	0	0	0	1	2	.319	.351	.390	.741	2.5
T. Wade PR-DH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.229	.299	.252	.551	0.0
F. Tatis RF	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	.281	.348	.483	.831	1.0
J. Profar LF	4	2	4	1	1	0	0	0	.285	.386	.467	.853	10.0
B. Lockridge LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	0.0
M.Machado 3B	4	0	2	1	0	0	1	3	.277	.327	.470	.797	2.5
J. Merrill CF	3	1	2	1	1	1	0	1	.290	.322	.504	.826	8.0
X. Bogaerts SS	4	0	1	0	0	0	2	2	.260	.304	.378	.682	2.0
J. Cronnenworth 2B	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	.244	.324	.393	.717	0.5
D. Solano 1B	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	.287	.343	.406	.748	-0.5
K. Higashioka C	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.225	.273	.491	.764	1.0
Total	33	3	13	3	2	2	6	14	-	-	-	-	-

PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	WHIP	FPTS
Y. Darvish	6.0	3	0	0	2	3	0	3.21	1.11	24.5
J. Adam (H, 26)	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1.88	0.82	2.0
T. Scott (H, 9)	1.0	2	1	1	0	1	0	1.66	1.11	0.5
R. Suarez	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.55	1.00	10.0
Total	9.0	6	1	1	2	4	0	-	-	-

Jackson Merrill and Jurickson Profar hit home runs tonight

Jackson Merrill went deep to center field with a solo home run during the bottom of the fourth inning. The rookie has 24 home runs and 86 RBIs for his team. Merrill extended the lead to 2-0 while Darvish continued to work his magic.

The Stros continued their struggle as the offense failed to rack up runs against Darvish. The Padres made a change and brought in Jason Adam, and Darvish retired after six scoreless innings.

Houston was forced to bring Bryan King as Arrighetti retired to the dugout after five innings. During the top of the eighth inning, Yordan Alvarez cut the Padres' lead in half while sending Altuve home. Just as when the Stros had something cooking, Tanner Scott retired the side with runners in scoring position.

Profar went deep at the top of the ninth inning with a solo home run, adding insurance for the Padres. Machado recorded a base hit and the Astros were back trailing with a 3-1 score.

The Padres then sent in Robert Suarez to save the game. Suarez had a strong welcome at Petco Park as he easily took out opponent hitters, leading his team to a 3-1 victory. The Padres keep their postseason dreams alive as they will look to win the series in the second game tomorrow.