Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman launch home runs and Astros Death Star (Video)

The Houston Astros want us to judge them by their playoff performance

Correa sent his message to the haters after they swept the Minnesota Twins in the best-of-three Wild Card round. In case that message wasn’t loud enough, two of the most prominently audible players from the Astros sign-stealing scandal (or the aftermath) made noise with their bats early in Game 1 of the ALDS.

First it was Bregman, and then Correa two batters later. While the Astros Death Star is poorly constructed, with notable holes in their pitching staff and bullpen, it’s still a war machine. In similar fashion to the Star Wars franchise, such a super-weapon can be defeated, but not without a concise plan, combined with a clear shot. Are the Athletics our Luke Skywalker? That remains to be seen.

Bregman hitting a home run on Oct. 5 is nothing new. In fact, he’s done so in the postseason every year since 2017, per MLB Stats and Info.

Correa and the rest of the Astros embracing the villain mentality is exactly what they need to make a surprise run to the World Series out of the American League. Such a result would be extremely 2020, and something the rest of the baseball landscape would hate with every fiber of their being.

This time, the Empire might not fall.