With the Astros holding a slim lead in Game 4 of the World Series (follow here for live updates) against the Braves on Saturday night, second baseman Jose Altuve doubled Houston’s advantage with one swing.
Altuve crushed a solo homer at the expense of a Kyle Wright sinker. It was 105.2 mph off the bat and went 434 feet to center field. That it pushed the Astros’ lead to 2-0 is of course the most important thing about that home run, which is Altuve’s second of the series.
Let’s take a look:
Also very much of note is that it’s Altuve’s 23rd career postseason home run, and that breaks a tie for second place with Bernie Williams:
Barring a certifiable baseball miracle, Altuve isn’t going to catch Ramírez atop the all-time leaderboard in 2021, but it may well happen in the next few years, assuming Altuve continues making trips to the playoffs.
It bears mentioning that Altuve reached 23 postseason home runs in just 77 games. Meantime, Williams didn’t hit his 22nd home run until his 114th postseason game. Ramírez needed 107 games to get to this record mark of 29 home runs. He hit his 23rd home run in his 86th postseason game, so Altuve is a bit ahead of that pace. Perhaps more to the point, Ramírez was in his age-35 season when he hit that 23rd playoff home run. Altuve in 2021 is in his age-31 season.
