Ortiz is springing to life after fall

A pitch he had trouble with early in the season, perhaps?

“Everything was tough to hit early in the year,’’ Ortiz cracked.

But here we are, in the final days of June, and a funny thing has happened to the gentle giant of the Sox clubhouse. Papi has his swagger back. Ortiz’s homer last night was his seventh in 47 at-bats dating to June 6, and his third in four games beginning with last Sunday’s win at Fenway Park over these same Braves. In his last 17 games (15 starts), Ortiz has slugged .796 and knocked in 14 runs, the most recent coming on last night’s parabolic bottle rocket - manager Terry Francona called it “majestic’’ - that splashed down in the right-field bleachers like one of the Apollo missions.

The best part? The blow came on a fastball over the inner third of the plate, a pitch Ortiz had no chance of hitting a month ago. And while the pitch was a little too high and a little too centered for the liking of Braves starter Jair Jurrjens, it was nonetheless the kind of offering that routinely produces fly outs, particularly among players possessing a .218 batting average.

Now comes the only question that should matter to the Red Sox and their followers, particularly during a marshmallow-soft stretch that should allow the Sox to build a nice margin for error entering the All-Star break: Can Ortiz keep this up? If so, for how long? Were April and May aberrational months, or is this June boon the exception to the rule?

Can anyone explain how a man can go from looking so inept for so long to so familiarly prolific?

Please, can anyone provide any logic at all?

“Logic? Probably not,’’ said Francona. “It’s what makes this game so crazy. He’s was kind of lost for a while. Now he’s kind of found himself and it’s good for us. We need him to hit.’’

Indeed they do.

And they may need him more as time goes on.