Throughout the day on Monday, at least three players –– Cody Ross, Marlon Byrd and Darnell McDonald –– uttered the same three-word phrase to characterize their recent power surges. And it ultimately embodied Monday's 11-6 victory over the Athletics.
"Hitting is contagious," Ross said.
"Hitting is contagious, simple as that," Byrd said. "I scuffled for a while in Chicago. Coming over here, watching these guys, picking up a few things, talking to [Kevin] Youkilis and the little things he does, sometimes you have to re-learn."
"Everyone's having good at-bats," McDonald echoed. "Hitting is contagious."
Point taken. Since a lethargic 4-10 start to the season, the Red Sox have embraced the three-word adage and executed to precision, posting double-digit runs for a major league-leading seventh time this season.
During the past two games that McDonald has started, he's been infected with the hitting virus, going 5-for-8 with two homers, two doubles and six RBIs. On Monday, the outfielder fell short of the cycle after failing to collect a triple.
Since getting slotted as the leadoff hitter, Mike Aviles has been the torchbearer for the three-word mantra. For the month of April, he clubbed five round-trippers, already halfway at his career-high of 10 that he set as a rookie in 2008.
Before the season, his previous career-high for homers in April was three. Yet, here Aviles is –– a player competing for a starting role in spring training –– heading into May with 17 RBIs, the third-highest total on the team.
How did he describe his success? Well, the shortstop stopped short of mouthing the heralded three-word axiom.
"I think a lot of it has to do with the entire team," Aviles said. "Everybody's hitting well and it's kind of easy to feed off that type of stuff."
If hitting is contagious, David Ortiz presumably received the first bug. A notoriously slow starter, the designated hitter has feasted on pitchers, hitting .405 with six homers and 22 RBIs.
With two more blasts against the Athletics on Monday, Ortiz recorded his 38th career multi-homer effort and 36th in franchise history, moving past Jim Rice (35) into sole possession of second place behind Ted Williams (37).
"David's a star of stars right now," Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said. "It's hard to throw a strike by him. He's using all fields. He's seeing the ball extremely well. I know it's the old cliche, but he gets two balls, no strikes, it doesn't even bother him to take because he's very confident in his swing. His swing is as good as I think it can get."
And it's become rather contagious for the Red Sox.
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