Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros climbs the all-time leaderboard with his first home run

Although the Houston Astros were unable to close the deal against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday, their franchise’s flagship made history by giving them an early lead.

Second baseman Jose Altuve opened the game with the first ball and then hit a 408-foot solo home run to left with the second pitch of the afternoon. It was the first of two home runs Houston hit on Saturday, as Jeremy Peña homered again to Albert Suárez in the sixth inning.

Jackson Holiday, however, finally won it for the Orioles, hitting a three-RBI double to right-center in the bottom of the same inning to give Baltimore a 3-2 lead, which was the final score.

Altuve finished the day 1-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and a run. He now has a batting average of .299 with 18 home runs, 56 RBIs, 18 stolen bases, an OPS of .800 and a WAR of 3.0 this season.

Saturday also marked the 38th time Altuve opened a game with a home run, according to TSN’s StatsCentre, which ranks fifth in American League history, from 1901 to the present.

Altuve was previously tied for fifth place with Ichiro Suzuki, who ended his career with 37 home runs entering the game. Paul Molitor is in seventh place with 33.

After passing Ichiro, Brady Anderson and Ian Kinsler are next on the list ahead of Altuve. Rickey Henderson holds the all-time record with 69, while Altuve’s former teammate George Springer is in second place with 60.

Altuve has a .307 batting average and .832 OPS since breaking into the major leagues in 2011. In his MLB career, he has 2,201 hits, 227 home runs, 803 RBI, 311 stolen bases and a WAR of 52.4.

Just last week, Altuve became the third player in Astros history to have over 150 hits in 10 seasons. Before Altuve, only Hall of Famers Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell were on that list.

Altuve — a nine-time All-Star, six-time Silver Slugger, three-time batting champion and two-time World Series winner — will surely join them in Cooperstown when he eventually retires, considering how many times he’s made history and broken records. The 34-year-old infielder is under contract through the end of the 2029 season, thanks to a contract extension he signed with Houston last offseason.

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