5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE ASTROS

1 Only four Astros remain from the 2013 club that went 51-111, and each of them has been a huge piece to the puzzle: Jose Altuve, Marwin Gonzalez (right), Dallas Keuchel and Brad Peacock. Altuve is a hitting machine, the first player in MLB history to lead his league in hits for four straight seasons. Gonzalez has reached career highs with a .303 average, 23 home runs and 90 RBIs while playing six different positions. And Keuchel and Peacock have combined for 27 wins and a 2.95 ERA.

2 UConn product George Springer has been a sparkplug atop the Astros’ lineup. He crushed nine leadoff home runs during the regular season. Four came in the Astros’ first nine games. He also accomplished the feat in both games of a May 14 doubleheader at Yankee Stadium. The final three all came in the month of June. For good measure, Springer also has the Astros’ only walkoff home run this season.

3 Speaking of quick starts, the Astros pounced on the Red Sox early in each of their four ALDS games, scoring a total of eight runs in the first inning. Alex Bregman and Altuve hit back-to-back home runs in Game 1. Correa blasted a two-run shot in both Game 2 and Game 3. In Game 4, Springer hit a leadoff double and eventually scored on an Altuve double play.

4 While Cleveland, the Yankees’ ALDS foe, was hunting for its first World Series title in 69 years — the longest drought in MLB — the Astros are chasing their first championship in franchise history. They entered the league as an expansion team in 1962 (as the Houston Colt .45s) and have made 11 postseason appearances since, winning three different divisions: the NL West, NL Central and AL West.

5 The Astros haven’t won a championship in the big leagues, but they have been building toward one with minor league titles over the past five years. Their Fresno Grizzlies won the Triple-A championship in 2015, the High-A Lancaster JetHawks won the California League in 2014 and both their Single-A and Short-Season A affiliates won their leagues in 2013.