Results show Davis settling in with Bucs

PITTSBURGH -- April can be a time of clean slates and fresh surroundings in baseball. And while that is usually the case in early April, Ike Davis got his scenery switched a few weeks later.

Davis was dealt to the Pirates from the Mets on April 18, and a little more than a month after the move, the first baseman is looking more and more at home with the Bucs. A 3-for-4 showing in Wednesday night's victory against the Orioles was the latest installment in a hitting tear the 6-foot-4 lefty has been on for a fortnight.

In his last 13 games, Davis is hitting .410 -- good for second-best in the National League since May 6 -- with a 1.079 OPS, and he's given the Pirates something they've longed for all season: production from their first baseman.

It wasn't always working out for Davis at the plate since he arrived in Pittsburgh. Despite starting out 5-for-14 in black and gold, Davis went into a slumber to the tune of a 3-for-32 stretch in 12 games from April 22-May 5. His slump featured 21 straight at-bats without a hit.

Davis has raised his averaged with the Pirates to .286 (it was .208 with the Mets), and manager Clint Hurdle said sometimes when little things fall into place off the field, it makes it easier between the lines.

"I do believe heavily in a comfort zone," Hurdle said. "For a week here, [Davis has] tried to figure out the soup kitchen guy's name, the clubhouse, how to get here, where he's living and play a game of baseball and teammates and the coaches. You can say, 'All you have to do is walk out there and play.' Yeah, that's part of it, but I do think it takes some time [to get comfortable]."