Bordow: Young batters on target in hitting the long ball

Someone check the Diamondbacks’ urine. Or their bats. There has to be some illicit activity going on in Arizona’s clubhouse.

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How does a team that suffered power blackouts throughout 2007 suddenly morph into the 1927 New York Yankees?

Arizona hit four homers in its 9-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday.

That gives the Diamondbacks a National League-best 16 on the season, and if you’re looking for a little perspective, it took Arizona 24 games before it clubbed its 16th last year.

So what is it?

Steroids?

Cork?

Stealing signs?

None of the above.

The Diamondbacks’ young hitters are growing up.

“We’ve seen from the beginning of the season that we’re starting to mature a little bit,” manager Bob Melvin said.

Take third baseman Mark Reynolds, who already has four homers and nine RBIs. He bombed a 445-foot home run to left field in the first inning then hit an opposite field blast in the sixth inning.

Last year, Reynolds didn’t have the plate discipline to take a 1-2 pitch over the right-field fence. He would have tried to pull the ball, the result likely being a harmless grounder to short.

“I think it’s more of me kind of taking what the pitcher gives me,” Reynolds said. “If he throws me a fastball away, I’m going to go to right field.”

Then there’s center fielder Chris Young, who has four homers and five RBIs.

He collected his eighth walk of the year in the first inning — he had 43 all of last year — and crushed a homer to left in the seventh inning.

Young’s power is a given. He went deep 32 times last year. But the leadoff walk? That’s a sign of growth and another good reason the Diamondbacks were smart to give him a contract extension through at least 2013.

We haven’t even mentioned right fielder Justin Upton, who had three more hits Monday and raised his average to .393.

He hasn’t homered in two straight games, though, the slacker.

“Those guys (Reynolds and Young) are amazing, man,” Upton said. “It’s hard to keep up.”

Much has been made of the fact the Diamondbacks don’t have a prototypical cleanup hitter. That may be true, but they have two players — Young and Reynolds — who likely will hit more than 30 and several others who will hit anywhere from 15 to 25.

That balance will make them a tougher out than a team that has one Punch and a bunch of Judys.

“We do have some depth as far as our power,” Melvin said. “All eight of them in the lineup can go deep.”

The Diamondbacks aren’t going to hit 250 homers this year. They’ll have to move runners over, get bunts down, do all the little things that championship teams need to do.

But it’s nice to know that when Arizona needs to, it can dial up the long ball.

“We’re going to surprise people, I think,” Reynolds said.

That may be hard to do, given Arizona won the NL West and advanced to the NLCS. But that was also the team that allowed 20 more runs than it scored.

This year, Arizona has outscored the opposition 40-19.

“It’s like Murphy’s Law,” Reynolds said. “With more time and experience comes confidence.”

Uh, Mark, Murphy’s Law says that if anything can go wrong it will.

“Oh. Well, you can edit that out,” Reynolds said.

Look at that.

Reynolds had an 0-2 count in the clubhouse and still managed to poke a single to right.

Yup, the kids are growing up.