Eugenio Suárez, welcome to baseball history.
The Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman, an MLB veteran in his 12th season and on his fourth team, became the 19th player in MLB history to hit four homers in a single game Saturday against the Atlanta Braves, with the last one tying the score in the ninth inning.
The view around the bases:
Suárez, who accomplished the feat in only four plate appearances, is the first player to reach the mark since J.D. Martinez did it in 2017, also with the D-backs.
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Unfortunately for the D-backs, a four-homer game doesn’t guarantee a win. While Suárez’s homer forced extra innings, a wild pitch in the top of the 10th and a shutout inning by Dylan Lee gave the Braves an 8-7 win in a game they once trailed 6-2.
A four-homer game is among the most rare accomplishments in all of baseball, with only three in the past two decades (Martinez, Scooter Gennett, Josh Hamilton) before Saturday. Rarer still is a four-homer game in a loss, as Suárez is one of only three players to do it alongside Bob Horner in 1986 and Ed Delahanty in 1896.
Suárez made history after entering the game in a prolonged slump, slashing .167/.279/.411 with 30 strikeouts in 26 games. He now has the MLB home run lead with 10, which is quite something considering he has hit five singles all season.
It might be a surprise to see a player of Suárez’s caliber do something that Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and many more never did, but not so much with a player with his profile. Suárez has carved out a career as the kind of player who can hold down third base while hitting plenty of home runs and striking out as often as any regular in the majors.
When Suárez is off, it’s ugly, like his stats before Saturday. When he’s on, he can do something incredible.
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