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Houston Astros' Jose Altuve Moves Into 3rd on MLB's All-Time Playoff Hits List

Jose Altuve recorded a single in the third inning of Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday, giving the Houston Astros second baseman 118 hits in his postseason career.
Sam Connon|
Oct 1, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (27) hits a single in the third inning against the Detroit Tigers in game one of the Wild Card round for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Minute Maid Park.
Oct 1, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (27) hits a single in the third inning against the Detroit Tigers in game one of the Wild Card round for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Minute Maid Park. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

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Houston Astros

Jose Altuve has racked up quite a few accomplishments over the course of his illustrious playoff career, and the Houston Astros second baseman added to that list on Tuesday.

Altuve, batting leadoff in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series against the Detroit Tigers, flied out to left in the bottom of the first inning. When he came back up to the plate in the third, Altuve got one to drop, blooping a single into left.

That marked Altuve’s 118th career postseason hit, moving him past Manny Ramirez on the all-time leaderboards. He now ranks third in MLB history in playoff hits.

Derek Jeter owns the record with 200, while Bernie Williams sits in second at 128.

Should the Astros reach the ALCS for the eighth consecutive year in 2024, perhaps Altuve can pass Williams before the end of October. Matching Jeter could take a bit longer, considering it took the New York Yankees captain 20 years to set the record that high.

Altuve, who won World Series championships with Houston in 2017 and 2022, owns a .274 lifetime batting average in the playoffs, in addition to an .851 OPS. His 27 postseason home runs are an Astros franchise record – ranking second across all of MLB behind Ramirez’s 29 – while his 55 RBI rank second behind Carlos Correa’s 59.

The nine-time All-Star has 2,232 career hits in the regular season, which is good for the second-most among active players.

The Astros trailed the Tigers 3-0 when Altuve got on base in the third, they went on to lose Game 1 by a score of 3-1. Altuve flied out to right to end the fifth and struck out looking in the eighth.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a staff writer covering baseball for “Fastball on SI.’’ He previously covered UCLA Athletics for On SI’s All Bruins site, and is a UCLA graduate, with his work there as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for On SI’s New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Sam lives in Boston.

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