Altuve ties franchise legend Wynn with historic homer

HOUSTON -- When Jimmy Wynn hit his 223rd -- and final -- career home run with the Astros on Sept. 15, 1973, he set a franchise record that would stand for nearly the rest of the century. It wasn’t until Jeff Bagwell smacked his 223rd career homer 36 years later that Wynn gave up his crown as the greatest power hitter in Astros history.

Bagwell and fellow Hall of Famer Craig Biggio would soon zoom past Wynn’s franchise home run record, with Lance Berkman following not long after. And now another one of the Astros’ all-time greats -- and arguably the greatest player in franchise history -- has reached Wynn’s home run mark with a big swing Friday night.

Jose Altuve, who’s rewriting the Astros’ offensive charts, smacked a three-run home run in the sixth inning, tying him with Wynn for the fourth-most homers in club history, to lead the Astros to a 6-3 win over the Rangers in a battle of the previous two World Series champions.

“When you do something like that and tie a legend like him, that means you’re doing good,” said Altuve, who met Wynn several times before the man they nicknamed “The Toy Cannon” died in 2020. “I’m proud, thankful and very happy.”

So are the Astros, who reached their 50th win of the season and won their 10th consecutive game at Minute Maid Park. Houston enters Saturday one game behind the Mariners in the American League West and has stretched its lead over the third-place Rangers to six games.

Altuve’s homer off Rangers reliever José Ureña was his 35th in the regular season in his career against Texas and gave the Astros a 6-2 lead. He clubbed a 1-1 changeup and sent it a Statcast-estimated 365 feet over the left-field wall.

“I was looking for something above the middle,” said Altuve, who popped out twice and struck out in his previous three at-bats. “I was chasing all day, pitches outside of the zone, so I was really focused on getting one pitch to hit.”

Astros third baseman Alex Bregman, who slugged his 12th homer of the season in the fifth inning, was on deck to see Altuve’s majestic three-run blast.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “He’s had so many clutch homers over the course of his career and I’ve been lucky to be in the on-deck circle for a lot of them. They never get old. He’s an incredible baseball player, he’s always so clutch. He always stays within himself and finds a way to get the job done.”

Wynn, who stood 5-foot-9, walloped 291 home runs in his 15-year career, including 223 with the Astros. While playing his home games in the cavernous Astrodome, he hit 93 of his 214 homers in that span (1965-1973) at home, so he wasn’t about to let the Eighth Wonder of the World tame his power.

“I’m a little bigger than him and I had some strength and I would have to stand on second base to hit a ball that far,” former teammate Norm Miller once said. “Jimmy never hit a cheap home run.”

Neither has Altuve, who stands 5-foot-6 and has somehow developed more power as his career has progressed. He had only 21 total home runs in his first four years in the big leagues.

“I feel like it’s crazy to say it, but he continues to come through at the biggest times always,” Bregman said. “In big moments in games, he doesn’t let the moment get too big. I’d go ahead and say that a lot of those homers that make up him being fourth on the list all-time, a lot of them have been pretty damn clutch.”

Altuve, voted by fans as a starter on the American League team for the All-Star Game on Tuesday in Arlington, said Thursday he was going to skip the game to rest his ailing left hand. He was struck in the hand by a pitch July 5 and said Friday he is still dealing with soreness.

“It’s good enough,” Altuve said. “Sometimes you have to play through pain.”

Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien will start the Midsummer Classic in place of Altuve, but Altuve reminded everyone Friday night who the best second baseman in the AL is with his historic homer.

“It’s exciting,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “I’ve been seeing it for years and it never gets old.”