After an easy, three-game trouncing of the Twins and several days of much-appreciated rest, the Yankees face a significantly tougher test starting Saturday night as they line up against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park in the American League Championship Series.

Not only did the ’Stros beat out the Yanks for the league’s best regular-season record (107 wins to 103) this year, they also ended the Bombers’ postseasons in 2017 (taking the ALCS in seven games en route to winning the Series) and 2015 (in the wild-card game).

In a way, this confrontation’s felt inevitable all season. “The Yankees are a really good team, we’ve got a really good team and our thoughts were we would have to play each other in the postseason,” Astros All-Star Alex Bregman noted. And he’s certainly right on this: “It’s going to be a lot of fun, 100% this is going to be an exciting matchup.”

Houston’s pitchers are just off a tough five-game series that only ended Thursday night. And even superstars like Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole will have their hands full with the big Yankees bats of Gleyber Torres, Aaron Judge, DJ LeMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton.

Cross your fingers and root, root, root for the Bronx boys to pay the Astros back for those last two postseason take-outs and get that ticket to the World Series.