Astros trio reaches milestones -- in same game

This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart’s Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

They’ve combined to play nearly 4,000 regular-season games in their careers with more than 30 years of combined service time, so it only stands to reason Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, first baseman José Abreu and catcher Martín Maldonado would achieve some impressive offensive milestones along the way.

On Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park, they each reached meaningful career benchmarks in the same game. Abreu became the 12th Cuban-born player to reach 1,500 hits, Altuve became the fourth Astros player to reach 1,000 career runs and Maldonado reached 100 career home runs. Each accomplishment was recognized on the scoreboard during a 6-1 win over the Nationals.

“You feel great when those things happen, and they happened all in one night,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “I got some more lineup cards to fill out, more than usual. Usually, you give away one and now we’ve got to give away three. I hope I can give away a whole bunch later.”

Abreu reached 1,500 when he doubled in the second inning, making him one of 21 active players to have 1,500 hits. He and infielder Yunel Escobar are the only two Cuban-born players to reach 1,500 hits when debuting after 2000.

“I think it just means I played a lot of baseball,” said Abreu, who had 1,445 hits in nine years with the White Sox before signing with Houston last offseason. “I can’t forget about all those people who were by my side throughout that long time. Obviously, being able to do it here, I think it was even that more special.”

After a slow start, Abreu is coming around at the plate. He’s slashing .289/.313/.467 in June with two hits in four of his last five games. That surge comes as fellow Cuban slugger Yordan Alvarez landed on the injured list with an oblique injury.

“Everybody in this clubhouse is very disappointed and very sad of what happened to Yordan, with his injury,” Abreu said. “We all would like to be in the lineup every single day and for him to be healthy. It’s difficult to stay healthy because of everything we do. After that, it’s up to everybody else in the lineup to just continue supporting him and hold it down until he gets back.”

Abreu played a role in Altuve’s career milestone as well, driving him home from second base with a single in the seventh inning. Altuve walked in the fifth and was thrown out trying to steal one pitch before a Kyle Tucker home run, but his 1,000th run came two innings later.

Altuve is only eight runs behind Lance Berkman (1,008) for third place on the Astros’ all-time list, with Hall of Famers Jeff Bagwell (1,517) and Craig Biggio (1,844) further up the line.

“It’s a big number for me and I’m really happy and proud,” said Altuve, who’s 48 hits shy of 2,000 and six homers shy of 200 for his career. “Obviously, I have to thank a lot of guys for driving me in. Abreu did tonight and I already thanked him, but it was probably 500 different times by Yordan in the last five years. Really happy to score 1,000 runs in my career and, like I always say, help this team win whenever we have to win.”

Maldonado, who earlier this year hit a career milestone when he homered against every Major League team, is one of eight active catchers with 100 homers. His 45 homers with the Astros are third-most in franchise history by a catcher, trailing Alan Ashby (69) and Jason Castro (67).

“This team is just a great big family and everybody in this clubhouse is proud and excited about the goals and things and the successes that everybody else in the clubhouse has also accomplished,” Abreu said.