HOUSTON — Gerrit Cole finally stuck it to the Astros.

The right-hander ended the first half of the season the same way he started it: as the Yankees’ ace and in superb form.

Cole had his best start of the season Saturday night, shutting out the Astros in a 1-0 win in front of another sellout crowd at Minute Maid Park.

And for one night, he put to rest the notion that he can’t pitch at a high level following MLB’s crackdown on the use of sticky substances.

“I wasn’t out there to prove anything,’’ Cole said of his final start before the All-Star break. “I was there to do my job.”

Aaron Judge hit a third-inning homer. That was all the offense the Yankees got, as Cole carried the day.

Cole followed up two dreadful starts with a dominant outing, in which he threw a career-high 129 pitches and couldn’t afford any mistakes.

With Chad Green unavailable and Aroldis Chapman warming in the bullpen, Cole remained in the game to start the ninth.

Jose Altuve started the inning with a single to center. Michael Brantley then flied to center before Yuli Gurriel struck out.

Manager Aaron Boone went to the mound and an animated Cole talked his way into staying in the game to face Yordan Alvarez.

“I think I said the ‘F’ word a lot and blacked out,’’ Cole said of the conversation. “I don’t remember what I said.”

Then he let his pitching do the talking by striking out Alvarez, ending it with a 99-mph fastball.

It was a throwback performance for Cole, who has been far less effective since the league began enforcing the rule about foreign substances.

In his previous two starts, Cole allowed nine earned runs in 8 ¹/₃ innings. Catcher Kyle Higashioka called his previous start, against the Mets, “probably his worst of the year.”

This time, pitching on extended five days’ rest, Cole’s spin rates remained down, but his results were as good as ever.

Asked if this showed he could pitch without a high spin rate, Cole said, “Look at my career track record and look at my numbers.”

Top start the bottom of the fourth, Cole retired the first nine batters he faced before back-to-back walks to Altuve and Brantley, but got out of the inning.

Abraham Toro got the first hit off Cole, with one out in the fifth, but the Astros didn’t get more than one runner on base in any inning the rest of the game, as the right-hander gave up just three hits and a pair of walks.

He also struck out 12 — his highest total since he also fanned 12 in a win at Tampa Bay on May 12.

“That took guts, that took heart,’’ Judge said. “That’s why he’s our ace. People can say what they want, that he’s not the same. He is the same.”

And it came after Cole battled an illness while the Yankees were in Seattle, which put his outing in jeopardy.

The victory was the Yankees’ fourth in five games against the first-place Astros this season and their fifth in six games overall following a three-game losing streak.

Judge added some spice to the game as he rounded the bases following his two-out homer off Zack Greinke in the third inning.

As Judge approached third base, he tugged at the front of his jersey — an apparent dig at Altuve, who famously grabbed his jersey frantically after his walk-off homer in Game 6 of the ALCS in 2019, when it has been speculated the Astros second baseman was wearing a buzzer. An MLB investigation showed no evidence that was the case.

This series is the Yankees’ first visit to Houston since that playoff loss.

While the bit of revenge might be nice, Cole’s bounce back is more important, as the Yankees try to shake off a disappointing first half that has left them buried in fourth place in the AL East for much of the season.

Cole restored some order Saturday, and the Yankees have a chance to sweep the first-place Astros on Sunday as they head into the break.

“We want to go into the break on a high note,’’ Judge said.