BOSTON - A few years back, C.J. Wilson tweeted out former teammate Mike Napoli's phone number in a prank that went too far.
After Napoli hit two home runs off Wilson Saturday night in the Red Sox 8-3 win, it's safe to say Wilson doesn't have Napoli's number anymore. Quite opposite, actually.
Napoli took the high road after the game, saying Wilson's prank was a long time ago. But let's be real, you just know he took a little extra joy in those home runs tonight.
I mean, just take a look at this bat flip.
Napoli's recent hot streak - he has four home runs this week - is just what he needed to break out of his season-long slump. The fact that he did it at the expense of Wilson is just a cherry on top.
"I feel pretty good," Napoli said. "This is a time that we're out to maintain what I'm doing right now in the cage and my BP. I know where my hands have to get and it's a good feeling to go in there and compete and not try to think what's going wrong with my swing or anything. So I'm going to try to keep that muscle memory and be able to go in the game and compete."
It was Napoli's 14th career multi-home run game and fourth with the Red Sox. He leads all Red Sox with seven home runs since April 25 and owns a .389/.450/1.056 line this homestand.
Boston Red Sox
Watching film with Dustin Pedroia on the plane right back from Seattle helped him see what he needed to do differently with his hands. He's said he's felt better since the first game against the Rangers.
"This homestand he's found his stroke pretty well," John Farrell said. "He's hit extremely well against the Angels. Since leaving there it's been impressive to see what he's done against that team. But I think more importantly for us he's on time, it's more consistent with what we've seen for a number of years for Nap. Couldn't come at a better time."
It can't be overstated how much Napoli has owned the Angels since he left there. In fact, he owns the best all-time slugging percentage (.716) and OPS (1.163) against the Angels since 1961. He's also reached base against them via hit or walk in each of his last 14 games.
Napoli doesn't go into each game thinking he wants to make them pay for letting him go, but he's certainly happy with the way it's gone.
"I mean, I like doing that. But I don't know what it is. It just happens," Napoli said. "Guys have teams that they do that against. It's the Angels that happen to be it. But I don't know, I try to do good every game. It just happens to happen that way."
The first home run Napoli hit came in the second inning on a 3-2 fastball that basically hit a fan's bulls-eye sign hanging in the Monster seats (WATCH). The second one was a bomb off a hanging breaking ball that went over everything and landed on Landsdowne Street (WATCH).
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The fact those homers came on two different types of pitches is a good sign.
"Feels good. It means my foot is getting down in time to where I can recognize a pitch to fire in the zone," Napoli said. "That's where you work to. To be able to hit a strike in the zone no matter what it is. So it's definitely a good feeling and like I said I'm going to try to keep that going with my pregame work and go out there and play hard."