There may not be any zombies trolling around San Diego, but there must be some kind of raging infection that has taken hold of the San Diego Padres. Beginning with pitching staff, it seems as though the virus has spread to the bats as the Padres finished up an August in which they set a season record with more than 150 runs scored. Since hitting, as they say, is contagious, it is encouraging to see that the Padres are not immune.

As of August 30, the Padres are batting .273 (270-for-988) in the month with 39 homeruns, the second best mark in a single month in club history (May 1970). The only teams to hit more round-trippers thus far this August are Pittsburgh (44), Atlanta (41), Philadelphia (41) and Florida (40).

Additionally the Padres rank third among National League teams is August with 108 extra-base hits, just behind Atlanta (118) and Pittsburgh (114).

With Friday night’s game remaining, the Padres numbers in August rank among the franchise best for that month. The 2007 club is 3^rd in runs scored (151), 2^nd in doubles (59), 1^st in homers (39), 2^nd in RBI, and 1^st in slugging percentage (.472)

“I attribute it to the player swinging the bats well collectively,” said Padres’ Manager Buddy Black. “We have more guys swinging well. And when you do that you score more runs. Over the course of the season it seems that we’ve only had a couple of guys swinging the bats well at one time. Now we have a greater volume of guys swinging the bats well.”

Simply put, is it not? However, credit could be extended to Hitting Coach Wally Joyner who took over after the departure of Merv Rettenmund in July.

“I think Wally has had an impact on the guys,” said Black. “I’m not around during the course of day in the cage or when they go (over) the opposing pitcher. But the feedback I’m getting is that Wally is bringing some things to the table that guys are responding to.

Joyner has brought not only insight but a sense of continuity. “Wally’s teachings are a lot of the same things Merv taught,” said Black. “Wally was a player under Merv a couple of different times in Atlanta and here in San Diego. So I think a lot of Wally’s teachings are directly from what Merv taught. I think it might just be a different presentation, different voice. As far as the overall philosophy it’s pretty much the same.”

Along with his knowledge, Joyner appears to have brought with him the aforementioned virus. Any doctor worth his medical degree would tell you that if you’re infected you should get some rest. Yet, luckily for the Friars there won’t be much time for rest considering they will have only two days off in September.

“It’s a good thing if you’re playing well,” said Black. “It’s nice to take off the gloves in September to give the guys a rest so you don’t have to rest them during a game when (they could be) playing. (The off-days) come close so that’ll give the guys a little bit of a chance to freshen up since they’re so close together. I think you’ll find that as you get down to the last couple of weeks, guys get that second wind. They see the light at the end of the tunnel. As the season is coming to a close the games are hopefully going to be very critical.”

These games are critical already as the Padres are just one game back of the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks and just a game and a half in front of the Philadelphia Phillies for the wildcard. With 28 days left to go, this final surge should demonstrate whether the fever can last deep into the postseason.