On the growl

He crept back to Fenway Park, no longer wounded in body, though his spirits still lagged. Something had switched on against Tampa Bay, on that home run that came a week ago, and that switch has remained on since. Through his injury timeout, Bay maintained his sense of rightness at the plate, and has simply taken off.

Not only did Bay reach base in all five of his plate appearances last night, but he added a home run and two doubles to his season tally. He recorded the winning runs when he sent Dustin Pedroia home ahead of him on a third-inning homer, and he started a five-run fifth inning with his first double, as the Sox took down the Tigers, 8-2, for their third straight win.

“It’s only been three games, but I feel a lot better,’’ Bay said. “I’m feeling much more comfortable in the box. When you’re not comfortable, you’re searching. You’re trying to move your feet a little bit, you’re trying this, trying that. You’re trying to find the magical little tweak, because most of the time it’s nothing major. You’re trying to find that one little thing that keys it off for you. Sometimes you start using those too much as an excuse: I’m trying this or that, rather than just hitting the ball.’’

So he has stopped trying. Or at least stopped trying too hard, a fact appreciated by the 38,124 in attendance at Fenway Park last night. They - along with the attendees at the two games prior - have been the recipients of Bay’s run of good offense, with homers in each of those three games, and in four of his last five. He hadn’t homered in 20 straight before that. Over his last seven games, Bay is 10 for 23 (.435) with four homers, six runs, and seven RBIs.

That offense has been mirrored by Mike Lowell, who will have to continue his run amid a greater reliance on him. With Kevin Youkilis shelved for four more games because of his suspension, Lowell is in prime position to boost the Sox, which he has done to the tune of .393 since returning from the disabled list July 17.

Following that trend, Lowell got the scoring started with a second-inning leadoff homer over the Green Monster for his third homer in his last four at-bats.