The Red Sox’ David Ortiz follows through on his second home run yesterday, a two-run shot in the fifth inning against the Brewers.

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The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

BOSTON — The funny thing is that it is easy to feel as if the Red Sox have not yet peaked on offense.

Yes, Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia have been terrific all year, as they were again yesterday. Manny Ramirez has been good, too, although he has gone a month without hitting a home run at Fenway Park. But David Ortiz is just now kicking into gear, and so is Mike Lowell.

It sure seems as if the production could only get better as the weather warms. If it does, the rest of the league could be in big trouble.

The Sox showed what can happen when they have their hitting shoes on as they pounded 15 hits, including four home runs, and all but toyed with Milwaukee, 11-7, yesterday to complete a weekend sweep.

“We swung the bat great today, and kind of the whole series. It was nice,” said Pedroia, who had three hits and one of the Sox’ homers. “It’s not early any more. We’re getting into the middle of the season. We need to get everything rolling.”

The best news for the Sox was that their leader, Ortiz, is acting like Big Papi again. He clubbed two home runs off Milwaukee starter Carlos Villanueva.

The first was a solo shot into the right-field seats in the third. He then ripped an even longer shot, over the visitors’ bullpen, for two more runs in the fifth. Pedroia just set the table for him that time with a single.

After being below the Mendoza line through April, Ortiz is up to .250. Ortiz, who also had a double to left, has hit in 15 of his last 17 games, going 25-for-69 (.362) with six home runs and 16 RBI.

“I thought today was the best he’s swung the bat,” Boston manager Terry Francona said. “He had balance and some aggression without trying to generate it. That was as good as I’ve seen him.”

Ortiz, who has been reluctant to speak with reporters since a Boston columnist wrote a story criticizing him for going to New York to film a commercial on an off-day while he was in his slump, did not meet with writers after the game. He did speak with broadcasters Joe Castiglione and Dave O’Brien on the postseason radio show.

“They try not to make mistakes with me. That’s one thing people have to understand. It’s not like they say, ‘Here, come hit it.’ ” Ortiz said. “They work on me because they know if they make a mistake they can pay for it.”

As it is, Ortiz is second in the league in RBI, with 36.

“The game is not as easy as it looks,” Ortiz said. “You’ve got to come in, get your work done, and at the end of the season you’re going to be there with everyone else.”

Even without Ortiz carrying the load, the Sox had been swinging the bats well. They lead the majors with 472 hits, 108 doubles, 162 extra-base hits and 737 total bases. They lead the American League with 239 runs, are tops in slugging percentage, at .457, and on-base percentage, at .365. Their .295 batting average not only leads the majors, it is the best in the A.L. by 20 points.

The Sox are hitting over .303 at Fenway as they have put together a 17-5 record at home.

Josh Beckett was the beneficiary, getting the victory despite allowing four home runs and six runs in seven innings.

“Normally, he carries us,” said Jacoby Ellsbury, “so it was good to get him some runs.”

The Brewers have some good, young hitters, too, especially Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, who combined for three of the four homers off Beckett.

“I threw a lot of strikes and sometimes strikes get hit, especially when they’re not good strikes down in the zone,” Beckett said.

“At the end of the day, we won, and that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re fortunate today that I gave up some runs but we scored more than they did.”

“He has pitched so many great games for us,” Ortiz said of Beckett. “Sometimes you’re going to be a little off.”

The Sox covered for Beckett with power. After falling behind, 2-0, in the first on the first of Braun’s two home runs, the Sox had the back-to-back round-trippers by Pedroia and Ortiz in the third.

They added three more runs in the fourth, helped by a dropped throw by Brewers first baseman Fielder. And then they scored two more on Ortiz’s second homer, in the fifth, for a 7-2 lead.

The Brewers received home runs from Braun, a potential superstar, and Fielder in the sixth.

But the Sox added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth when Julio Lugo and Pedroia had hits.

A two-run shot by Youkilis in the seventh clinched the series sweep.

pkenyon@projo.com