Slowly, still not with the deftest touch, the Astros are cleaning up the mess they made of themselves and the World Series.

Sports Illustrated reporter Stephanie Apstein divulged Sunday on Twitter that she received a letter of apology from Houston owner Jim Crane on Saturday after the Astros attempted to smear her reporting about the conduct of Brandon Taubman.

“Stephanie,” the note read, “On behalf of the entire Astros organization, I want to personally apologize for the statement we issued on Monday October 22nd. We were wrong and I am sorry that we initially questioned your professionalism. We retract that statement, and I assure you that the Houston Astros will learn from this experience.”

Apstein reported last Monday that Taubman, then Houston’s assistant general manager, boasted of the team’s acquisition of Roberto Osuna, the reliever who served a 75-game suspension for violating baseball’s domestic-violence protocol, in front of a female reporter who wore a purple bracelet recognizing domestic violence and had repeatedly tweeted out contact information for women’s services when Osuna took the mound in 2018.

Shortly after Apstein’s story launched, the Astros released a statement accusing her of writing a story that was “misleading and completely irresponsible” and an “attempt to fabricate a story where one does not exist.”

Last Thursday, the Astros fired Taubman after determining that he lied to them about what transpired. Jeff Luhnow, the Astros’ president of baseball operations, met with Apstein on Friday in the Nationals Park visitors’ dugout, shortly before Game 3, and personally apologized.

Commissioner Rob Manfred said Friday that his office was investigating the Astros’ behavior surrounding this incident. Further discipline of the organization appears likely.