Correa, Astros rally past Braves

Just in time, Carlos ATLANTA — Correa and the Houston Astros broke out the bats.

Because if they had waited any longer, this World Series would’ve been over.

Staggered by Adam Duvall’s grand slam in the first inning, Correa and Alex Bregman ended their slumps in a hurry. They kept swinging, too, refusing to let their season slip away and rallying past the Atlanta Braves 9-5 early Monday to cut their Series deficit to 3-2.

The Braves might not admit it was a deflating defeat; 66-year-old manager Brian Snitker is too steady and savvy for that. But by any measure in the Analytics Age, this had to sting.

“I’m just glad we get to go back to Houston. That was our goal today,” Astros skipper Dusty Baker said.

Correa came through with three hits after getting moved up to third in the lineup for Game 5 while Bregman was dropped to seventh. Martín Maldonado found three different ways to drive in runs and pinch-hitter Marwin Gonzalez blooped a twoout, two-run single in the fifth for a 7-5 lead.

A matchup of bullpens turned into the first high-scoring game of this Fall Classic, and the highest-scoring team in the majors this year won it.

Couldn’t hold down the Astros forever, a parade of Braves pitchers found out as the clock passed midnight and the calendar flipped to November.

“We’ve got a clubhouse full of bad dudes in there. And our lineup is very deep,” Correa said.

Correa gained attention earlier this postseason for marking big hits by pointing at his wrist, where a watch might be. His time, he said.

The star shortstop doubled and singled twice, driving in two runs. His RBI single in the eighth padded the lead and as Jose Altuve got congrats in the dugout after scoring, the Fox TV mics picked up someone on the bench yelling “It’s time!”

A night earlier, the Astros went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position in a 3-2 loss. That left Correa at 2 for 14 overall in the series and Bregman worse at 1 for 14.