The San Diego Padres dropped the first two games of their three-game set with the Astros this weekend.

The Padres looked to salvage the series on Sunday as Dylan Cease took the mound for the Padres.

Opposing Cease, the Astros handed the ball to Framber Valdez, arguably their best pitcher. Valdez struggled so far this season, producing an uncharacteristically high ERA of 4.91 in his first four starts of 2025. Cease came into the game with a 6.64 ERA as he was roughed up two starts ago against the A’s. Both pitchers were due for a quality outing.

The game started horribly for the Padres, as Luis Arraez was seriously hurt in the first inning.

Fernando Tatis Jr. led off the game with a walk. Luis Arraez set off to move Tatis with a drag bunt down the first baseline. Christian Walker fielded the bunt and tossed it to second baseman Mauricio Dubon. The momentum of Dubon making the catch took him into the running path of Arraez, and they collided.

Luis Arraez was placed on a stretcher and carted off the field after colliding with Mauricio Dubon at first base.

Arraez gave a thumbs up as the cart was driving off the field. pic.twitter.com/C0yM3KsJIS

— ESPN (@espn) April 20, 2025

Arraez stayed down for over 10 minutes and was taken off the field on a stretcher. It looked as though he may have briefly lost consciousness in the collision. “That was very scary,” Mike Shildt said during an in-game interview with ESPN’s Buster Olney. “He is alert and aware of what took place… They are worried about the jaw.”

More details on Arraez will be available in the coming days. The Padres hope that the injury will not require an I.L. stint.

San Diego managed one run in the first and took a 1-0 lead early. They tacked another run on an RBI-single off the bat of Gavin Sheets, who replaced Arraez as the Padres’ DH. It was 2-0 after three innings as Dylan Cease pitched well for San Diego.

Through four innings, the Padres were able to get runners on base, but three of the four innings ended on hard-hit double plays (including a Xander Bogaerts ground ball that registered 109.4 mph off the bat). Valdez was doing a good job of limiting the Padres and minimizing his pitch count as he was at 60 pitches through the first four innings. Cease was at 57 pitches through his first four innings of work.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Astros rallied as Jake Meyers led off the inning with a double under the glove of a diving Manny Machado down the third base line. He scored on a bloop base hit up the middle from Mauricio Dubon off the glove of Jose Iglesias in short centerfield. Yordan Alvarez would drive in Cam Smith with a sacrifice fly to tie the game at two later in the inning.

Cease would get out of the jam in the fifth, as the Padres looked to avoid the sweep heading into the top of the 6th inning.

Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts began the inning with singles, and everything looked promising. Oscar Gonzalez advanced Machado to third, but Bogaerts was forced at second, giving the Padres a first-and-third situation with one out. Yuli Gurriel stepped up and, for the third consecutive at-bat, swung at the first pitch. The result this time was a shallow fly ball to center field. With two out, Jose Iglesias grounded out to end the inning—another wasted opportunity for the Padres against Valdez.

Dylan Cease did not come out for the 6th inning as Alek Jacob took the mound for San Diego and threw a scoreless frame.

Fernando Tatis Jr. put on a show on Sunday night. The outfielder slugged a two-out homer in the top of the 7th inning that registered 108.7 mph off the bat and put the Padres up 3-2. Tatis scored all three runs in the games for the Padres on the night. He also made several nice plays in the outfield and scored in the first on a heads-up base-running move.

Tatis to dead central! ? pic.twitter.com/PES7X0t3iH

— MLB (@MLB) April 21, 2025

The Padres’ bullpen is one of the best in the league, and they were called upon to preserve San Diego’s late lead.

Jakob, Jason Adam, and Robert Suarez were summoned from the pen in relief of Cease. Adam was filthy as the right-handed pitcher recorded five outs without allowing a runner (other than a swinging strikeout in the dirt), lowering his ERA to 0.75 on the season.

Robert Suarez continued his dominance with a 1-2-3 9th inning to solidify the 3-2 win for the Padres. He has yet to allow a run this season.

The Padres head to Detroit next to take on the Tigers in a three-game set starting Monday.

Randy Vasquez (1-1, 1.74 ERA) is set to take on Keider Montero (0-1, 9.00 ERA) at 3:40 pm.

James Clark

James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. James has written about the Padres and their prospects for over a decade. He also writes about San Diego State as well as other local sports. James is the Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.