HOUSTON -- When the Astros took the field on defense to start the fourth inning Wednesday afternoon, veteran Alex Bregman stood alone at third base. The Minute Maid Park speakers blared “Wanna Be a Baller” by Lil’ Troy, one of his walk-up songs, while he was shown on the video board.

“I was just told right before [that] it was going to happen,” Bregman said. “I didn’t really know.”

It wasn’t until Astros manager Joe Espada came out with the lineup card that the crowd began to understand, too. Espada pulled Bregman from the game, earning him an opportunity -- perhaps for the last time in the regular season -- to get an ovation from the fans who have seen him evolve from a can’t-miss rookie in 2016 to a cornerstone player on two World Series championship teams.

Wednesday’s 8-1 loss to the Mariners, which came a day after the Astros beat Seattle to clinch the American League West title and lock up the No. 3 seed in the AL playoffs, wasn’t Bregman’s final home game. The Astros will play host to the best-of-three AL Wild Card Series, beginning Tuesday at Minute Maid Park.

“It’s Fan Appreciation Day so why not show some appreciation for one of our best players who’s entering free agency?” Espada said. “I just wanted the fans to give him a standing O. Well-deserved.”

Bregman joins Jose Altuve, Justin Verlander and injured pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. as the only holdovers who played on both of Houston’s World Series championship teams in 2017 and ‘22.

“Super thankful for all the fans here over the years,” Bregman said. “They’ve been amazing. I wish we could have won today, but we’ll go up to Cleveland hopefully win a few games, get on a roll and get going for the postseason.”

Simply put, Bregman is the team’s greatest third baseman and is easily a top 10 player in franchise history.

On the all-time Astros hitting charts, Bregman ranks sixth in homers (191), seventh in doubles (263), eighth in runs (694) and extra-base hits (472), ninth in RBIs (662) and total bases (2,001) and 11th in hits (1,127). His 19 career postseason homers are tied for the sixth most in postseason history.

“There's qualities that you look for in a winning player and Breggy has all of them,” Espada said. “He cares about his teammates, No. 1. He’s a winner, the way he works, he cares about the city, he cares about small things that sometimes you don’t think about. Breggy’s always thinking about that.

“He’s in the cage helping his teammates, helping the pitchers and how they approach hitters. He’s just a complete player. Not only what he does on the field, but off the field, he’s a complete player. It’s been great being around him for seven years. Let’s not make this like we’re never going to see him again. But I thought today was a perfect day just for the fans to show some love and respect for one of our best players.”

The Astros suffered their first loss this season with Yusei Kikuchi on the mound, finishing 46-35 at home this year. Kikuchi went six innings and allowed four hits and struck out eight batters while allowing two unearned runs, which came as the result of an error by rookie and No. 14 prospect Shay Whitcomb.

Whitcomb, who replaced Bregman at third base, set a club record with four errors. That’s the most in the big leagues since Marco Scutaro had four for the A’s on July 6, 2007, against Seattle.

“This kid is a sure-handed third baseman,” Espada said. “He’s done it in the Minor Leagues. It’s one of those days. I’ve seen really good third basemen in my years in the big leagues that have days like that. Just got to turn the page.”

Bregman said no one on the club has lost faith in Whitcomb, who was named the team’s Minor League Player of the Year earlier this week.

“Those are the kind of moments that make you go out and take ground balls the next day and bounce back and get back up and do it again,” Bregman said. “We were talking about it yesterday after being down 10 games [in the division in June]. It’s a game of failure, and you’ve got to have a short memory in this game and continue to get after it and grind.”