By Chad Finn, Boston.com Staff

David Ortiz has been everything Adrian Gonzalez was supposed to this season, picking up the slugging slack in the middle of the order while Gonzalez offered his bizarre nightly homage to Lyle Overbay for a couple of months.

So we wonder: Is it possible that Monday night's satisfying 5-1 victory over the White Sox, which featured the returns of Kevin Youkilis, Carl Crawford, and Gonzalez's home-run stroke, stands as a harbinger that the favor is about to be returned?

Gonzalez mashed the winning three-run homer in the eighth inning, a cathartic blast that has been overdue since the frustrating early spring. But the celebration was collectively exhilarating only for a moment. Ortiz came up limping rounding second base -- what is it with this franchise and injuries on home runs? -- and so as one slugger apparently returned, another departed, hobbling down the dugout steps while his manager wore a concerned look that actually appeared sincere.