Angels' Mike Napoli is healthy, and so is his hitting

Napoli was the team's hottest hitter in the last month of the season, batting .453 (21 for 87) with six home runs and 16 runs batted in, including a .667 clip in which he had 18 hits in his last 27 at-bats.

"It's great to see that confidence," hitting coach Mickey Hatcher said of Napoli. "You can feel it when he walks into that batter's box that he's going to put a real good at-bat together."

What Napoli felt for much of June and July was pain in his inflamed right shoulder, an injury that forced him to the disabled list from July 6-Aug. 8.

Napoli homered against the Yankees in his first game back and raised his average from .215 on Aug. 9 to .273 by the end of a season in which he finished with 20 homers -- one every 11.4 at-bats -- and 49 RBIs in 78 games.

"His shoulder bothered him a lot, and he wasn't saying anything," Hatcher said. "You could see it in his throws to second base and the way he was moving his shoulder, trying to get loose. He got strong again."

Questionable move

More remarkable than Napoli's two blasts was the fact that Beckett even pitched to him with Howie Kendrick, who was hitless in his first 11 series at-bats through the third inning Sunday night, batting behind him.

Napoli came up in the third inning with Vladimir Guerrero on second and two outs. Beckett hung a curve, and Napoli hit it off the light tower above the Green Monster in left field to tie the score, 3-3. Kendrick then struck out to end the inning.

Napoli came up with one out and no one on base in the fifth and lined a solo homer to left-center for a 4-3 lead in a game the Angels eventually won, 5-4, in 12 innings.

In an effort to increase the chances of the Red Sox pitching to Napoli in Game 4, Manager Mike Scioscia flip-flopped him and Juan Rivera in the order, batting Napoli sixth and Rivera seventh.

Playing a hunch

Scioscia said Monday that he "definitely" considered using Robb Quinlan to pinch-hit for shortstop Erick Aybar in the 12th inning Sunday night.

Aybar was hitless in 13 series at-bats when he stepped to the plate against left-hander Javier Lopez, but Scioscia stuck with his No. 9 hitter, and Aybar delivered a game-winning, run-scoring single to center.

"Erick was in the game and had seen a lot of pitches," Scioscia said. "I thought the matchup with Lopez was fine for Erick. He's swung well from the right side the whole season, though he hasn't shown it as much in this series."

Right call?

Scioscia started Gary Matthews Jr. in right field against Jon Lester in Game 1 because Matthews had three hits in six career at-bats, including two home runs, against the Boston left-hander.

Monday night, Scioscia went with Rivera in right against Lester. Rivera had two hits in five career at-bats against Lester but was hitless in five at-bats in the series.

"We're seeing better swings from Juan," Scioscia said before the game. "He gave us a big lift at times during the season, and I want to give him the opportunity to contribute."

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com