THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Astros aren't going away — but neither are the Mariners

Game on.

If you’re reading this column, you almost certainly know that the Mariners begin a massive three-game series tonight.

They’re at Daikin Park in Houston, going to the mat once again with the Astros.

Maybe your grandchildren will get to see the Mariners breeze to a division title, and even a World Series, without having to fight off the Astros virus — but it hasn’t happened in a while, and as for the future?

Waiting around for the Astros to collapse and just fade from contention is probably the same as hoping you can catch the last train from China to Nepal.

Nope, winning the AL West means going through Houston — figuratively and literally.

It means somehow getting 52-year-old Jose Altuve to strike out with a game on the line.

Both teams have lined up pitchers from the top of their rotations for this three-day rock fight.

That means Bryan Woo against Hunter Brown tonight, George Kirby vs. Framber Valdez on Saturday and Logan Gilbert facing Jason Alexander in the Sunday finale.

This is a proper heavyweight matchup.

The Mariners have won 11 of their last 12, and the Astros just kicked Texas out of the division race with a three-game sweep.

LET’S USE some simple math to heat up this series even beyond what seems obvious.

Yes, the two teams are tied atop the West with records of 84-69, and they’ll have just six games remaining after this weekend.

If the Mariners managed to win two of three in Houston, they’d have a one-game lead.

Or would they?

These two clubs have split their previous 10 games this season, so winning this series would lock up a tiebreaker.

In other words, if the Mariners won two of three at Daikin, they actually would hold a TWO-game lead over the Astros — the one game you see printed in the standings, plus the golden tiebreaker.

Bottom line: Both of these teams can (and probably will) make it into the playoffs, but the winner this weekend will hold the hammer all the way to the finish line.

I’ll save you a peek at Google here.

Each team has a day off on Monday, and then the Mariners come home for their final six games — three against Colorado, and then three against the Dodgers.

(It wouldn’t hurt if Los Angeles had the NL West wrapped up by that final weekend, but so far, the Padres don’t seem interested in quitting.)

The Astros?

They have to leave town for good, unless they win the division and bring the postseason back to Houston.

Again.

Meantime, though, they’ll play three against the A’s in Sacramento and a final three in Anaheim.

For what it’s worth, the Astros are pretty much a .500 team on the road (38-37), while the Mariners are 21 games over .500 at home.

That’s all well and good, but departing Houston while dragging the equivalent of a two-game deficit (or more) would put Seattle in a pretty dark hole.

WE DO know that the Mariners are on top of their game mentally.

That won’t be a problem.

You’d have suspected it might have been an issue on Thursday afternoon in Kansas City.

The Mariners could have had their minds elsewhere.

They’d just had 10-game winning streak snapped, and shockingly, too — since we’d come to believe that Matt Brash was almost unhittable.

Brash got whacked around in a four-run eighth inning, right after J.P. Crawford’s homer had given Seattle a one-run lead.

That wasn’t in the script, not at all.

So, match that downer with this visit to Houston just a day away, and the Mariners could have been dreaming a bit, yes?

No.

In fact, they snatched a run — giving them a 2-0 lead — with an amazing challenge.

Replay coordinator Andy Bissell noticed that Royals second baseman Michael Massey was set up with his foot on the outfield grass.

Technically, that’s a no-no.

Bissell told manager Dan Wilson, and they waited to see if Massey’s positioning might come into play.

It did.

After Dom Canzone grounded out routinely to Massey in the eighth inning, the Mariners challenged his positioning.

Replays showed that Massey’s left heel was (barely) on the grass when the pitch was delivered, so the umpires stunned almost everyone by awarding first base to Canzone.

“A ticky-tack call,” announced Royals pitcher Stephen Kolek.

The Mariners made the most of it, as Victor Robles ran for Canzone and scooted around to score on Crawford’s double.

Verdict: The Mariners are NOT daydreaming as they head to Houston.

Let’s get ready to rumble.

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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week, normally Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”