The one thing that most professional athletes hate is going through a slump. It is a shot at their ego’s. It makes them feel like they have gotten bad at the one thing that has made them part of the elite.

For the Houston Astros, that feeling was something they were not used to at all going 22 innings without scoring a run. The last run the Astros had scored going into the game against the San Diego Padres on Friday night came in the eighth inning of a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Monday night.

Yet. As the old saying goes in baseball, “Everything can change with one swing of the bat.”

That change came when Houston shortstop Carlos Correa hit a 429-foot three-run blast off Padres starting pitcher Jake Arrieta in the top of the fourth inning to give the Astros a 3-1 lead. They would go on to win the game by a score of 6-3 to take the first game at Petco Park in San Diego and end a two-game losing streak.

"That was a big three-run homer Carlos hit because Arrieta was throwing the ball really well," said Astros manager Dusty Baker. "Before tonight he had problems with walks, but tonight he was throwing the ball like the old Jake Arrieta I'd seen in the past."

Houston was also helped by the power of left-fielder Kyle Tucker as his two-run home run in the eighth inning helped break a 3-3 tie ball game. Designated hitter Yordan Alvarez’s pinch hit double in the top of the ninth inning would also help give the Astros an insurance run as center fielder Jake Meyers RBI single would increase the lead by three runs heading into the bottom of the ninth inning.

“I feel really good right now,” said Tucker about how he has played since coming off the IL on August 24 due to being placed on MLB’s health and safety protocol list. “All I am trying to do is get a good pitch over the plate and hit it hard.”

The Astros welcomed back starting pitcher José Urquidy to the lineup on Friday. He had missed the last two months due to right shoulder discomfort.

“I feel stronger than I did before I went to the rehab assignment,” said Urquidy who pitched 4 1/3 innings allowing five hits, two runs and striking out four Padres batters. “I feel really good physically coming back and I am just ready to get better the next time out and finish the season strong.

Urquidy’s highlight of the night came from the plate when he hit a single in the top of the third inning when he got his first major league hit of his career. It was also the Astros first hit of the game.

“I saw my teammates laughing with me and I am never going to forget the moment,” Urquidy said.