Eugenio Suarez's Three Homer Night Powers D-backs Offensive Barrage
![Jul 30, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks third base Eugenio Suárez (28) hits a two run home run against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports Jul 30, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks third base Eugenio Suárez (28) hits a two run home run against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_7528,h_4234,x_0,y_280/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/inside_the_diamondbacks/01j43jsd5037jdcn11y1.jpg)
The Arizona Diamondbacks exploded emphatically on offense against Patrick Corbin and the Washington Nationals. They scored 11 runs off him and won 17-0 after tying a franchise record 22 hits, the most at Chase Field in team history and tied for the most this year.
This was the most lopsided shutout victory by the Arizona Diamondbacks in franchise history among shutout wins. They've never scored more than 17 runs in a shutout win. They scored in six of the eight innings.
They scored 11 runs over the first three innings which made it six straight innings from Monday night carried into Tuesday which they scored a run. Over those six innings, the D-backs scored 18 runs.
They entered the game leading the National League in runs per game at 5.01. That number is third in MLB. Coming in they were also 6th in MLB in OPS+ at 109. Both of these ranking will improve once the overnight updates are in.
In the first inning, Eugenio Suarez hit a two-run laser homer off of Patrick Corbin to score the game's first two runs after Gabriel Moreno singled.
In the second inning, the offense exploded for seven runs, however, those seven runs all scored with two outs. The team had seven consecutive two-out hits in that inning. Four of those seven hits were doubles. The five hits in a row for an RBI ARE a D-backs record.
It was Eugenio Suarez's day at the plate as he had three rocket homers, his second coming in the 6th inning. The third came in the 7th inning. This was his 15th multi-homer game and first since July 6th, 2023. This was his second career three-homer game, the first since September 5th, 2020.
Suarez had five RBI tonight and looked right at home in the cleanup position, replacing Christian Walker in the lineup. His OPS is now .724. He's officially an above-average hitter over the course of the season. MLB average .711 coming into tonight.
Suarez spoke about his night after the game to a scrum of reporters.
"It feels great...feels awesome...feels great to have the win and not only the win but the series...I never give up, never ever...hard work pays off...I'm not trying to hit homers but the results were there...It made me feel great and very happy [hearing his name chanted by crowd]...I don't ever try to hit a homer...I believe in myself. I never give up."
It's Jake McCarthy's birthday today and he recorded three hits, a run, RBI, and a double. He along with every other starter in the lineup recorded at least one hit and at least one run.
The team was able to pull Ketel Marte after the 4th inning and replaced him with Kevin Newman who moved to second base with Pavin Smith coming in to play first base. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was also pulled after the 4th inning to give him some rest with Alek Thomas coming in to play.
The worrisome news is that Gabriel Moreno, after being hit by a foul ball on the left forearm, initially stayed in but left after the 6th inning. He had x-rays that were negative according to Manager Torey Lovullo. He was catching balls with no pain but the arm got a little stiff on him when he got back in the dugout. Moreno is available tomorrow.
Ryne Nelson Twirls Magnificent Start
Ryne Nelson pitched the game of his life Tuesday night as he matched or set numerous career-highs. He threw seven shutout innings for the first time since his MLB debut on September 5th, 2022 against the Padres. That tied his career high.
He also tied his career high in strikeouts with 9 of them, a number he recently reached on July 19th against the Cubs. He set a season-high and career-high in pitches with 106. Before tonight, he had never thrown 100 pitches with the previous high being 99.
Nelson located his pitches beautifully on the edges and garnered numerous swing and misses as he navigated the Nationals lineup multiple times. He allowed just two hits and two walks. At one point, he set down 14 of 15 in a row. Ryne Nelson shared what worked so well during tonight's game.
"I felt like when the offense puts up a bunch of runs, the other offense tends to take a little bit more and be a little passive so with that in mind, it was just getting ahead and filling up the zone. From there, I felt like the slider and cutter were really good and the changeup as well...Overall, it was just aggressive working ahead and when I do that, it usually ends up going well."
Tomorrow's series finales sees Zac Gallen against MacKenzie Gore with a start time of 1:10 PM local AZ time. The Arizona Diamondbacks will attempt to complete the sweep, something they've done just once all year.