Astros alive — count them out at your own peril

Carlos Correa isn’t going away. Alex Bregman isn’t going away. The Houston Astros aren’t going away. Not at Truist Park, for sure, because they closed this joint for the year. And not beyond that, because even if this is their third World Series appearance in five years, who would bet against a fourth or a fifth?

The boos and chants can rain down on the Astros, as they always do, as they did all weekend here, the latest tempest into which these players have strode, and calmly. Their 9-5 victory over the Atlanta Braves in Game 5 on Halloween brought up something of a spooky specter: The Braves fully expected to hoist a trophy here Sunday night. Yet there is a path — a pretty clear path — for the Astros to come all the way back. Because of what they can do. Because of who they are.

As ballplayers. As individual ballplayers and as a team of them.

“This team has a very strong mind,” manager Dusty Baker said. “It’s strong-willed — dealing with adversity, dealing with booing, dealing with the amount of negative energy that was cast our way throughout the year.”

The cheating scam the Astros pulled off en route to the 2017 championship is damning and eternal — and, as it pertains to this World Series, irrelevant. Not to those of us on the outside, still railing against it. But to those players with the hats bearing the white “H” and the orange star? Ho-freakinghum.

“I haven’t thought about that,” second baseman José Altuve said before the series.

That stands for him, if not for everyone. When Altuve singled in the eighth inning Sunday night, an Atlanta fan from the upper deck bellowed: “Hey, Altuve! You’re still a cheater!”

True. The idea of the Astros pushing forward, unencumbered by their scandalous past, can still be infuriating — until you watch them play baseball, so frequently with precision and pride. It requires compartmentalization, which might be too much to ask. But they’re still here.

They trailed in the series 3-1, and they kept playing. After an inning of Game 5, they trailed 4-0, and they kept playing. The Braves had the sole of one shoe on their necks, and eased up. What might the consequences be?

“I’m a person that believes in miracles,” said Baker. “I really believe in miracles, because I’ve had a few of them happen to me in my life.”

For Baker, the miracle in this case may be that the cheating scandal blew up the Astros’ front office and coaching staff, and he was granted a team this talented and tested. Their lineup had gone quiet during taut losses in Games 3 and 4, games in which Houston — which led the majors in runs and was second in on-baseplus-slugging percentage — managed all of two runs.

So Baker did what he doesn’t like to do: He shuffled it up, dropping Bregman from third to seventh, bumping Correa from fifth to third.

The results: Correa went 3 for 5 with a double, two RBI and a run. Bregman, who had only one extra-base hit all postseason, doubled in his first at-bat — a signal to Atlanta that a 4-0 lead wouldn’t be easy to protect — and also walked and scored a run. Altuve scored twice, stole a base and singled. And the fullon offensive output — 12 hits — indicated an awake and alert group, ready for what’s ahead.

“We’re still down 3-2,” Correa said. “I truly believe that if there’s one team that can accomplish that, it’s us.”

It’s what the Astros do, walking a line between confidence and cockiness, mixing in a lack of contrition for past sins. It doesn’t mean they will win one or even two in Houston. But it’s beyond question that they can. A year ago, they were down 3-0 in the American League Championship Series to Tampa Bay, and won three in a row to force a seventh game.

Why not win three straight to raise a trophy now?

“The hardest thing to do is to do it the first time,” Baker said. “Once you do it the first time, you figure you can do it the second, the third, the fourth and the fifth time. Then you call upon your past for confidence.”

They have a deep past from which to draw. Game 5 was the 19th World Series game and 78th in the postseason for Correa and Altuve. Altuve and Bregman are signed through 2024. There has been continuity, and even though Correa is a free agent just days from now, that matters.

“We’ve enjoyed all of the years we played together,” Correa said. “We’ve done some great things. We’ve made history. I love that group of guys with all my heart.”