PHOENIX -- With each homer he hits, Eugenio Suárez’s trade value continues to climb.
At the same time, those homers are helping the Diamondbacks win games, which makes them less likely to be sellers at the upcoming Trade Deadline.
One day after hitting two homers in an Arizona rout over the Cardinals, Suárez smacked another two Sunday afternoon as the Diamondbacks completed a three-game sweep of the Redbirds with a 5-3 win at Chase Field.
The victory pushed the Diamondbacks back to the .500 mark at 50-50 and while they still have a ways to go to catch up with the NL Wild Card leaders, they are within shouting distance. Arizona is 4 1/2 games out of the final Wild Card spot at the moment with four teams they would need to climb over.
But, when they play like they did against the Cardinals this weekend, it gives the front office and manager Torey Lovullo the feeling that they can make a run at it with 62 games to go.
Suárez was asked after the game whether he thinks the team sent a message to the front office with the sweep.
“Yes, obviously,” he said. “You know, we want to try to make it a hard decision for them. I think everybody feels happy where we are right now. We’re back to .500 and that’s a good message for everybody. We want to stay together and try to win games. I think we got a chance. There's a lot of games left, and now with this series sweep, it's a good message for everybody.”
Suárez is having a monster season for the Diamondbacks, a carryover from the second half he had last season.
This was his second straight two-homer game and his third in his last five games. He’s got six multi-homer games this year, including a four-homer performance on April 26 against the Braves.
Suárez set the tone early in Sunday’s game with a three-run homer in the first and he followed it up with a solo shot in the third. The first-inning homer capped a four-run frame that gave Arizona some early momentum.
In 98 games this year, Suárez has a slash line of .249/.331/.466 with 35 homers and 85 RBIs.
“What a great day,” Lovullo said of Suárez. “Two home runs, gets us that four-run lead. He's ready to hit in that first inning, and just takes a couple of really nice swings. He’s got, what, 35 home runs, 80-plus RBIs? Magical year and he's continuing to build on it each and every night.”
Suárez, who is a free agent at the end of the season, has made no secret of the fact that he wants to finish this season in Arizona. While he is someone who is pretty good at tuning things out, he has said it’s hard to do this year with all the chatter that is out there.
All the rumors, though, are just that, as D-backs GM Mike Hazen has said he has not decided on a path yet for the Trade Deadline. Therefore, he hasn’t engaged in any specific discussions regarding Suárez or any other of his impending free agents.
“Like I always say, I’m happy where I am right now,” Suárez said. “I just want to keep doing my best here in Arizona.”