Hill feeling more relaxed, comfortable at plate

PHOENIX -- Aaron Hill can't remember exactly when it happened, but the D-backs' second baseman still recalls the feeling he had at the plate around 10 days ago.

"I remember I had a nice and easy swing, and it just clicked," Hill said prior to Tuesday night's 14-6 D-backs win over the Nationals, in which he went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. "That's what I used to do."

When he lost his starting second-base job after Spring Training, Hill pressed at the plate and the result was a slow start.

"Honestly feeling better, but feeling more relaxed," Hill said. "Not that I've found a swing, but I definitely feel more comfortable in the box now, as opposed to a few weeks ago. Just felt like I was trying to get something going, I was swinging hard."

Entering Tuesday night's game, Hill was hitting .429 with three homers and seven RBIs over his last 10 games.

"He's worked hard," D-backs manager Chip Hale said. "Ever since Spring Training, when I gave him an idea of where his playing time would come, he's just gotten better and better. It's kind of a cool thing to see when a veteran guy like that sort of starts to play almost as a rookie. He's got a lot of energy. It's kind of contagious to the other kids."