Love ’em or hate ’em, Series-bound Astros keep on winning

By DAVID BRANDT
AP Sports Writer

The Houston Astros are off to the World Series for the fourth time in six seasons. It’s a remarkable show of staying power for the franchise, particularly in a baseball era that includes a 12-team playoff gauntlet. Yet the dichotomy of this generation of Astros will probably never go away. The stench of the franchise’s 2017 cheating scandal still lingers. Only five players are left on the roster that were a part of that 2017 team. It’s a team many fans love to hate, but the days of the Astros being a postseason fixture don’t look like they’re ending any time soon.