ASTROS BACK IN IT AFTER IMPRESSIVE GAME 3 WIN

WASHINGTON—FROM the moment George Springer jumpe do n the game’s third pit chf or as ingle, then quickly swiped a base, tot he way he and his teammates sprinte do ff the field afte rt hef inal out al ittle past midnigh to nsa turday, the Housto nas tro swe r esu ddenly aggressive and energetic.

And suddenly right back in the thick of thi sw orld Series.

Yes, the Fall Classi cf inally showed up back in Washington, 86 year sla ter—and, sparked by Springer and José Altuve, the Astro sf inally showed up in the Fall Classic.

Springer ha dt w oo fh ouston’s four steals, Altuve doubled twice befor esc oring each time, Zack Greinke repeatedly worke do u to f trouble, an dt he Astro sma d esu re they wouldn’t go quietly despit el ooki ngl istless twi cea t home, beating the Nationals, 4-1, o nf rid ay n ight to cu tt heir Series deficit to 2-1.

“We’r ep rett yg ood, too,” Astros manager AJH inch said . “It kin do f reestablishes us.”

Houston can even things up in Game 4 o nsa turd ayn ight at Nationals Park. Washingto nw ill start $140-million left y Pa trick Corbin, whi leh inch said he’ll go with rooki ej o séu rquidy.

“We didn’t panic,” Altuve said.

Washington’s eight-game winni ng s treak, tied f or t he longes ti nas ingle postseason, ended wit h a sl oppy performance in t hef irst Series game hosted by the nation’s capital since the Senator sl ost to t he New Yor kg iants in 1933.

A sellout crowd of 43,867, dressed mostly in red for the occasion, soaked it all in, standing in unison at key moments, booing ball-strike calls that hurt their team, chanting “Let’s go, Nats!” often and even getting to do their “Baby Shark” singand-clap-along when that children’s tune blared as a walk-up song in the sixth.

“It was electric,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “The boys in the dugout, they were fired up.”

But the wild-card Nationals were unable to move one win from a championship, undone by an inability to come through in the clutch: Birthday boy Juan Soto, MVP candidate Anthony Rendon and Co. were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, leaving 12 runners on base.

“Tonight we were a little bit aggressive outside the strike zone,” Martinez said. “We took balls I thought we should hit, uncharacteristic of what we’ve been doing.”