ARLINGTON, Texas — David Murphy's theme song as a hitter has always been "See You in September" but he's singing a new tune this April.
The Rangers outfielder is hitting .533 (8-for-15) through the first five games of 2012 after coming up with three hits and an RBI in Tuesday's 1-0 win over the Mariners.
Before this season, Murphy had been a career .233 hitter in April, going 56-for-240 in the opening month but making up for it by getting hot down the stretch.
His lowest moment was in 2009 when he started the season 0-for-23, but now Murphy is one of the Rangers' hottest hitters. His newfound success in April is combined with a mature approach.
"I want to just stay the course," Murphy said. "I feel like in the past if I would have a start like this I might start swinging hard and thinking in my mind I'm playing with house money and getting outside of myself.
"It's a lot of fun, but it's just five games and there's a lot of baseball left to be played."
Murphy was 3-for-3 Tuesday with two doubles. Murphy, a lefty batter, sliced both of the extra base hits to left-center, which manager Ron Washington said has been a key adjustment.
"He's been using the opposite field," Washington said. "If he can start using opposite field, he'll start getting more to the middle part of the plate where he likes it."
Murphy has often struggled against lefties, but he earned the Opening Day start against lefty John Danks after impressing Washington in spring training. He has kept Washington's faith by continuing to improve.
"I felt pretty good at the end of spring, [but] not this good," Murphy said. "Things have gotten better each day since the season started.
"It's a work in progress each day, it's a continual battle. Your body feels different each day. I just feel like the key for me is to take the right mindset into each at-bat."
Washington practically gushed about Murphy's performance against the Mariners, particularly with Seattle starter Blake Beavan stifling the rest of an otherwise potent lineup.
"Once again Murphy came up big," Washington said in his postgame press conference, later adding, "Murph came up big, real big."
After enduring so many frigid Aprils, Murphy said he isn't going to let this hot streak go to his head.
"It's all about maintaining," Murphy said, "and just staying in the right frame of mind all year long."
Follow Keith Whitmire on Twitter: @Keith_Whitmire
