J.D. Drew of the Red Sox slides safely into third as Twins third baseman Matt Tolbert can’t handle the throw during second-inning action last night.

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AP / Paul Battaglia

MINNEAPOLIS — The ritual is the same after a win.

The Red Sox bound out of their dugout to mingle with the players on the field, celebrating the victory.

One of the last players out of the dugout is lumbering designated hitter David Ortiz. As he makes his way to the middle of the field to exchange high-fives with his teammates, manager Terry Francona makes it a point to wander over to Ortiz and ask him if he thinks he’ll be able to play the next day.

The source of Francona’s concern is Ortiz’s right knee. The 6-foot-4 Ortiz, listed at a more-svelte-than-he-looks 230 pounds, underwent offseason surgery to clean out the knee, and he bruised it a few weeks ago on an ill-advised and unsuccessful headfirst dive into first base in an attempt to beat out a double play.

The Red Sox need Ortiz in the lineup, even on one leg. But as Francona is prone to point out, especially when it comes to saving his pitchers an inning here and there, it is a long season. And he wants Ortiz to be productive for as many days as possible.

So, while Francona would prefer to pencil Ortiz into the lineup every day because of his thunderous bat, resting him every now and then is important. That’s why Francona checks on Ortiz daily.

“We’ll give him a day off when we need to out of necessity,” said Francona the other day.

The odds are good that Ortiz will be bothered by tendinitis in his knee all year. Only a long rest will cure that condition, and Ortiz doesn’t have the luxury of being able to rest for an extended period of time.

He gets treatment before games, walking around with his knee encased in an ice pack. He gets treatment after games, walking around with the ever-present ice pack.

When the Sox play interleague games, going to Cincinnati and Philadelphia in mid-June, Ortiz may start games on the bench because the designated hitter is not used in the National League parks.

Until then, though, Francona and Ortiz will keep the lines of communication open as to when Ortiz feels he needs a day off.

Ortiz’s bat has been heating up lately. Not only is he finally getting base hits to fall, he’s hitting for power and hitting to all fields. The numbers showed an eight-game streak heading into last night’s game against the Twins that featured three homers, four doubles and eight RBI. He raised his averaged from .172 to .239.

He quickly boosted the streak to nine games, clearing out his hips on an inside fastball and drilling a double into the right-field corner. Ortiz hustled out of the box and rumbled into second, sliding in ahead of the throw from Michael Cuddyer.

One of his most impressive recent at-bats came in Detroit last Tuesday. He drilled an outside pitch for an opposite-field blast down the left-field line that was just foul. Then he pulled the next pitch, which was middle-in, for a majestic homer to right.

“You have to have balance to be able to do that, to stay on a ball and hit it to left and then just react to a ball in and pull it,” said Francona.

“When he feels good about himself, he’s seeing the ball and just letting it fly at the plate, and the ball goes where it goes,” said Francona. “Sometimes, when you’re in a slump, one swing can be all it takes [to get out of the slump]. Sometimes it takes a while.”

“When you start off slow and don’t get right back to where you are, it can be tough,” said Francona. “But David’s numbers the last 10-15 games, I don’t know what they are, but I’ll bet they’re good. He’s taking more aggressive swings. He’s getting aggression through the zone without effort, and that’s really good.”

Ortiz doesn’t want to get too excited about his hot streak.

“I’m kind of feeling things out,” said Ortiz the other day. “Sometimes I feel like I’ve found the swing, and the next day they pitch me different and I’m trying to adjust. But I‘m getting better at-bats every day and I’m feeling better.”

And if he needs a day off every now and then, he’s going to get it.

skrasner@projo.com