Astros pitchers are the kings of Ks, but can they avoid dangerous curves in October?

It’s possible there’s only one thing standing in the way of the Houston Astros making a run to their first World Series since 2005.

They have the best record in the AL, hit more homers than any team in the big leagues and easily lead the majors in strikeouts, on pace to blow away their 2016 total.

The issue, though, is whether the Astros’ breaking-ball loving pitchers can spin their way through October, a month typically dominated by hard stuff.

Astros pitchers have struck out 995 batters in 881 innings, even though they throw fastballs just 47.4% of the time, almost identical to their 49% mark in 2016 and well below the major league average of 56%.

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Both this year and last, only the New York Yankees threw fewer fastballs, and it’s no coincidence.

“We have guys — and I think they’ve probably done it on purpose in this organization — who can spin the ball well,” said Astros right-hander Collin McHugh. “Whether it’s me, or (Brad) Peacock, or Lance (McCullers Jr.), or whoever you’re gonna run out there — (Mike) Fiers is throwing a really, really good breaking ball these days — you kind of know what you’re gonna get.

“You’re gonna get some spin, you’re gonna mix pitches and I think that’s how we know we’re most effective. Lance likes to say the four-seam fastball is a dying pitch, but there’s still a place and time for it for sure.”

Whether the fastball is dying or not, the Astros approach has — for the most part — been effective.

For much of his career, Peacock, 29, has been unremarkable, and entering this season had pitched just 11 games in the majors since 2015.

As it turns out, that was a blessing in disguise. That’s how Peacock came to know Jordan Jankowski.

The two were teammates on Houston’s Class AAA affiliate Fresno Grizzlies, and Jankowski taught Peacock his slider near the All-Star break in 2016.

“I had a slider going into that season, but it was getting crushed,” Peacock said. “I’d just try to throw it hard, but it really wasn’t moving much. I kind of just said ‘I need something new,’ and I asked one of my buddies who had a good slider on the team.”

Since then, that slider has changed everything. Peacock’s his career 4.14 ERA has dropped to 2.51 this season, and he’s striking out 12 batters per nine innings, up from eight entering this season.

And what pitch is he throwing more than any other? The slider.

Perhaps Jankowski - who has appeared in two games with Houston this season - deserves a larger playoff share.

When McHugh made his season debut against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night, he as throwing Jankowski’s slider too. Says McHugh, who was sidelined with an elbow impingement: “It’s kind of making its way down the line.”

The obvious concern, however, is that one pitch — no matter how effective and despite its impact on a person’s career — does not equate to a shutdown pitcher.

And the Astros’ best candidate for that role has been struggling of late.

McCullers, 23, opened the season with a 2.58 ERA and 89 strikeouts through 13 starts before being placed on the DL with lower back discomfort on June 12. Since then, he hasn’t been the same.

McCullers has failed to complete five innings in three straight games, registering a 9.88 ERA. Even McCullers admitted that his fastball command “just hasn’t been the same” since going on the DL.

“The last couple outings, what’s been helping me be extremely effective this season was my fastball command,” said McCullers, who gave up six runs in 4 2/3 innings to the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday. “And being able to go out, being able to go in, that would be able to play my curveball and changeup off of that.

“When you're facing a lineup like this, that's been hot and has some of the top hitters in baseball, you can't be coming at them with one pitch the whole game. You're going to get beat eventually.”

That’s an outcome the Astros must avoid come the playoffs.

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