“We’ve been playing together so long, some of us since the minor leagues, and Altuve has been here forever,” said shortstop Carlos Correa, who homered in Game 5. “The bond and the love we have for each other is unbelievable. That’s what makes this team so special.”

For the Astros to bungle this World Series now, they would have to lose four home games in a row, counting Games 1 and 2. They have not had a four-game home losing streak all season, nor has a World Series ever featured zero victories by the home team. The Nationals will start the imposing Stephen Strasburg in Game 6 (and saving Scherzer for a possible Game 7), but the Astros will counter with Justin Verlander.

Verlander has thrived in the American League playoffs, with a 14-5 career record and a 2.83 earned run average, but in six World Series starts — including a Game 2 loss to Strasburg — he is 0-5 with a 5.73 E.R.A. Minute Maid Park would be the ideal setting Tuesday for his first win.

“Those are the moments that you dream about — as a kid, me and my dad in the backyard, just drawing up these moments in our heads: ‘Hey, Game 7 of the World Series, you’re on the mound, two outs, bottom of the 9th, bases loaded,’” Verlander said. “Having the opportunity to be out there on the mound, hopefully in a scenario where we can close it out, that’s everything I’ve dreamed of.”

Verlander, 36, is signed with the Astros through 2021. Gerrit Cole, who stifled the Nationals on Sunday, is a free agent this winter, but the Astros will welcome back a former All-Star, Lance McCullers Jr., who missed this season after elbow surgery. Zack Greinke and Jose Urquidy will also return.

Urquidy took a star turn in Game 4, earning a victory with five shutout innings in just his eighth major league start. He is 24, two years older than Yordan Alvarez, who homered and singled twice as the left fielder in Game 5, and Kyle Tucker, a highly touted outfielder who has pinch hit in every game.

A thriving farm system has helped the Astros make winning trade packages for Verlander, Cole and Greinke without sacrificing Alvarez, Tucker and Urquidy. Those three — and promising pitchers like Brayan Abreu, Brandon Bielak and Forrest Whitley — should keep the Astros contending for years.