Eugenio Suarez, the Venezuelan third baseman for the Arizona Diamondbacks, had one of the brightest moments of his career, in the midst of an all-or-nothing season in the desert, when on Saturday he became the 19th player in MLB history to hit four home runs in a single game
However, despite his outstanding offensive performance, he could not prevent his team from falling 8-7 to the Atlanta Braves in 10 innings. The Venezuelan slugger is also the first player to reach this milestone since JD Martinez, also of the D-backs, in 2017.
What can I say? It’s amazing! I never thought in my life that I could hit four home runs in a game
A performance outside the average for Eugenio Suarez
The 33-year-old Venezuelan is not characterized as a power hitter. In fact, he came into the night with a paltry .167 batting average, six home runs and 15 RBIs. As of tomorrow, his record will rise to 19 hits this season, including 10 home runs.
Suarez began his pyrotechnic show with a solo home run in the second inning. He then followed it up with a two-run homer in the fourth, while in the sixth and ninth he hit two more solo homers for a total of five RBIs
His fourth home run off Braves closer Raisel Iglesias tied the score at 7 as the more than 43,000 fans at Chase Field roared in delight at his display
D-backs manager Torey Lovullo admitted he couldn’t believe Suarez had such an offensive outburst:
“I thought there was no way he was going to throw deep. When does that happen?” Lovullo said. “It’s like a fairy tale. When it happened, I just shook my head. I couldn’t believe it. He made a pretty good pitch… It’s one of those magical nights. It’s hard to describe.”
In total, the four home runs traveled a combined 1,655 feet. The longest was 443 feet, which traveled all the way to center field for his third home run of the night. The first three homers came off starter Grant Holmes.
However, the Braves recovered in the 10th inning to win the game, thanks to a wild pitch that allowed Matt Olson to score
“I have mixed feelings right now because we didn’t win the game,” Suarez said at the end of the game. “But this is baseball, that’s why this game is so special. I just want to glorify God with this for today’s game. It’s a gift and I don’t take it for granted.”
In his career, the Venezuelan veteran has hit 286 home runs in a 12-year career with the Reds, Mariners and Diamondbacks.
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