Chris Davis: Mashing baseballs and leaving them laughing, too

Chris Davis came to bat in the seventh inning last night and the Orioles had just taken a 7-6 lead on Washington. With Nick Markakis on second base and first base open, Davis didn't know if he'd even get a chance to swing the bat. He did, and he took a mighty swing and miss at the first pitch he saw from the Nationals' Tyler Clippard. Two pitches later, on an 0-2 count, he hit his second homer of the game and 19th on the year. "I wasn't sure if they would pitch to me or not," Davis said. "I saw a heater the first pitch and my eyes lit up. I almost threw out my back, I swung so hard. I told myself to relax and take what they give me. He threw another good fastball right after that and then he left a changeup up. I'm glad he did." Davis' homer completed his latest big night for the Orioles, as he went 4-for-4 with two homers and three RBIs. On the season, Davis is batting .359 with 18 doubles, 19 homers and 50 RBIs. He has a .447 OBP, a .766 slugging percentage and an OPS of 1.214. Davis was the American League Player of the Month for April and he's topping those stats in May: Davis in April - .348 average, nine homers, 28 RBIs, .728 slugging, 1.171 OPS. Davis in May - .370 average, 10 homers, 22 RBIs, .804 slugging, 1.257 OPS. He's batting .402 against right-handed pitching and .404 with runners in scoring position. Yes, that is ridiculous. Davis is happy to share the credit and feels the potent O's lineup is helping plenty of players thrive right now. "I think that has been a key for us all year. Manny (Machado)is swinging the bat well, Jonesy (Adam Jones), Nicky (Markakis), Manny, I mean Nate (McLouth). Everything that has to do with Manny has to do with doubles, so I just said it twice," Davis said, breaking up the large group of reporters around his locker. "We are really putting together good at-bats one through nine and one guy is not having to carry the load." He's on a season-long tear right now and he's even cracking jokes. But no opposing pitchers are laughing at a player that is putting an amazing performance this season for the Orioles.