HOUSTON -- On Tuesday, Wander Franco waited until his final plate appearance of the night to extend his historic on-base streak. The Rays¡¯ star rookie drew a walk in his final trip to the plate, but he said he had a different plan in mind for Wednesday night¡¯s game against the Astros at Minute Maid Park.

¡°I¡¯ll take a walk,¡± Franco said Wednesday afternoon through interpreter Manny Navarro. ¡°Hopefully today, I can connect with a hit earlier.¡±

Much earlier, in fact. Franco swung at the first pitch he saw from Houston starter Luis Garcia, a fastball in the strike zone, and knocked it down the left-field line for a one-out double. The 20-year-old switch-hitter has reached safely in 43 consecutive games, tied with Frank Robinson for the longest on-base streak in AL/NL history by a player 20 years old or younger.

Robinson¡¯s 43-game streak came for Cincinnati from May 26-July 7, 1956. Franco¡¯s streak began on July 25, and since then he¡¯s climbed past a bunch of Hall of Famers -- Ken Griffey Jr., Al Kaline, Mel Ott, Arky Vaughan and Mickey Mantle -- to match Robinson atop this list.

¡°The names that he's passed along the way, pretty special group,¡± Rays manager Kevin Cash said. ¡°Huge?congrats?to Wander. That's pretty special to be in the same sentence with certainly Frank Robinson and Mickey Mantle.¡±?

The significance is not lost on Franco,?either,?even if he was born nearly 24 1/2 years after Robinson¡¯s last game in the Majors.?

¡°I know who he is, but obviously I've never seen him play since I hadn't been born yet,¡± Franco said. ¡°It¡¯s very special.¡±?

Franco enjoyed an all-around excellent night on Wednesday as the Rays clinched home-field advantage until the World Series and broke the franchise¡¯s single-season win record in a 7-0 victory over the Astros. The rookie went 3-for-5, boosting his average to .290 and his OPS to .830, and made a sensational leaping catch at shortstop for the first out of the ninth inning.

Franco¡¯s streak is reaching a point where it¡¯s not just historic because of his age. It¡¯s the third-longest among rookies in American League history, behind Seattle¡¯s Alvin Davis (47 in 1984) and New York¡¯s Charlie Keller (44 in 1939). It¡¯s the longest active streak in the Majors, the longest by a rookie in Rays history and the longest in the Modern Era for a rookie shortstop. Additionally, it¡¯s the longest single-season streak in Tampa Bay history and only five games short of matching Tommy Pham¡¯s team record set in 2018-19.?

After Wednesday¡¯s performance, Franco?has?recorded five?more hits (55)?than swinging strikes (48) during his on-base streak. He¡¯s struck out only twice in his last?78 plate appearances?and four times in?his last 119, and he¡¯s had more walks (17) than strikeouts (15) over his past 43 games.?

¡°It¡¯s just his discipline at the plate,¡± teammate Yandy D¨ªaz said Wednesday afternoon. ¡°Not a lot of rookies, let alone any kind of ballplayer, has that discipline.¡±