The quarter mark of the Houston Astros’ 2019 season came about midway through their Sunday (May 12) game with the Texas Rangers at Minute Maid Park.

The Astros spanked Texas, 15-5, for their fifth consecutive win, and the Rangers will scurry back to Arlington with this sorrowful tale between their legs: Houston swept the four-game series, and now roost atop the American League West by 6.5 games over the Los Angeles Angels.

The Astros, eager to avoid showing intra-divisional bias, stuffed the Rangers into the nearest Otis elevator, pushed the down button, and hurtled Arlington’s finest into the cellar.

Not unlike an oily game show host, the Astros waved buh-bye to the Rangers with a suitably smarmy “Thanks for playing,” while loading each of them down with home versions of the “Astros’ Divisional Monopoly” game.

In the four-game series, the Astros said “Good day, sir” to the Rangers by doubling their hit total, 46-23. Unsure they got their message across, the Astros then doubled down by tripling the Texas run total, 33-11. “I said, Good day, sir!”

Several of the Astros’ position players have offensive numbers at the season’s quarter mark that appear to have swollen to the size of a mid-season edema. There are even a few who have numbers, accumulated to this point, that some players would be happy to take to their agents and arbitration, at season’s end.

Springer Bringer

George Springer, with his mom in tow for the Mother’s Day series finale, proceeded to impress with a symmetrical five-for-five with two dingers, four RBIs, and five runs scored, becoming the first player in Houston franchise history to have five hits and five runs scored in the same game.

“It’s pretty special,” Springer said humbly after the game. “There’s some great, extraordinary players to come through this organization, so I’m happy to do it. I’m happy to help us win. With me scoring runs, it means the guys behind me did their job as well.”

Speaking of special, Springer brings numbers like these at the quarter mark: A slash line of .321/.400/.660, with nine doubles, 15 homers (to lead the AL) and 37 RBIs (also tops in the AL) in 41 games. Springer’s slugging percentage and OPS also lead the league coming into the games of May 13.

During the Astros’ five-game winning streak, he’s brutalizing opposing moundsmen to the tune of .550/.565/1.200 with four homers and seven RBIs.

Springer is 29, thought by many to be around the age many athletes are in their prime and at the top of their game, where ability finally merges with experience.

Bregman Heats Up

Four years younger is third baseman Alex Bregman, another of a handful of Astro players who had proud mothers in attendance, Sunday. Last year’s All-Star Game MVP also got AL MVP votes at season’s end. He may get more this year, with quarter-mark numbers like these:

Bregman used Mother’s Day to snap out a three-for-18 slump by going three-for-five with a two-run homer and a three-run job for a career-high-tying five RBIs. He now has six round-trippers and 17 RBIs in his last 10 games, including two multi-homer games in that stretch. Bregman has reached base in 23 consecutive games.

Sharing the love while hammering down the winning talking points, Bregman offered, “I’m happy to be able to contribute to help us win,” he said prior to greeting his mother and visiting ball-playing brother AJ after the game.

“We had a great homestand, a lot of wins and we’re moving in the right direction. I was super excited to see Springer go off today. That’s what’s so great about this team is the other night we hit three solo homers, seven-eight-nine in the order. I’m just happy to be able to contribute and help us win games.”

To date, Bregman totals 12 home runs, 31 RBIs, and a growing .277/.391/.577 slash line. His .968 OPS is good for a sixth-place tie in the AL, knotted with teammate…

Houston’s recently-acquired left-handed middle-of-the-order bat has become a welcome clubhouse voice of wisdom and experience to the younger ‘Stros. His consistent contact rate and legitimate power presence have led to a .331/.377/.591 line. His average ranks third in the AL, while his slugging comes in fifth.

Brantley’s 10 home runs at the quarter mark put him on pace to double his career high 20 bombs in 2014, his fourth full season with the Cleveland Indians. In fact, his 51 hits now threaten his career high 200 hit total of that same season, if he keeps up this pace.

Brother From Another Mother (who was also at Sunday’s game)

Carlos Correa, Houston’s do everything (sometimes sprawling and leaping) shortstop, also has some offensive numbers other teams find so offensive, they hold their noses.

Correa comes to the party with a healthy .298/.363/.567 line, with his slugging percentage and .930 OPS both ranking ninth in the AL. His nine home runs and 24 RBIs extrapolate out to a year-end total of 36 and 96 RBIs, if he hangs onto a similar pace.

As manager AJ Hinch said after Sunday’s game, “This is a really good offense and when we put up at-bats like that, it’s really tough to get through. When you put up that many hits and that many runs, it takes a little bit of everybody.”

A “little bit of everybody” with a blue and orange star on their caps may just end up clogging the year-end MVP voting ballot, leaving other teams wondering just what the “H” is going on.