The Astros deserve better than the crap the Chronicle editorial board is dishing out:

The omens going into this series couldn’t be more promising. The winning game against the Braves put the team on the front page of The New York Times and won Houston a new legion of believers around the country.

That’s an omen? I didn’t get the memo about this, but apparently the New York Times — instead of telling us what happened yesterday — is now an all-seeing oracle.

The 18-inning affair displayed the strengths that have allowed the Astros to rise from a 15-30 grave in May to become October contenders for baseball’s world championship.

Guess who etched the tombstone on that grave.

Lance Berkman, slowed by a pulled muscle, reached deep and found the swing that sent a grand slam over the left field wall when the team was down 6-1.

Knee surgery, guys.

It also doesn’t hurt to have three of the league’s strongest starting pitchers in Clemens, Roy Oswalt and Andy Pettite, tonight’s starter.

Does it hurt to spell Andy Pettitte’s name correctly?

In an otherwise uninspiring sports fall…

Maybe if these guys would peel themselves away from the New York Times front page once in a while, they’d notice that the Texas Longhorns are doing pretty well, two other Texas teams are in the Top 25, and the Rockets beat Philly to start the preseason.

Chron editors, stick to things you know about. Like international diplomacy, leftovers and plagiarism.