\"Good vibes only\" has been the mantra of Reds third baseman
Four of Cincinnati's six hits on Saturday cleared the fence.\n\n\"Do damage or take a walk, that’s the goal from Alan \\[Zinter, the hitting coach\\] every time,\" Suárez said \"Today we had four homers, and that’s what we want. Hit the ball hard and see what happens after that.\"\n\nThe home run has been such a big part of the Reds’ diet this season that they came into Saturday leading the Majors with 60.1 percent of their runs scored via the long ball. When the homers aren't coming, it's been a struggle.\n\nBut when they are, they enjoy nights like Saturday.\n\n\"It seems like the positioning against us has been solid. You’ve got to believe that’s going to change and we will end up getting more singles. The home run is going to be part of our game,\" Reds manager David Bell said before the win. \"There is no way to defend against that. We’re not going to see that as a negative.\"
Against Pirates starter Trevor Williams, Barnhart led off the third inning by hitting a 1-1 pitch that cleared the center-field wall by just enough. Joey Votto kept the pressure on by following Barnhart with a double. A one-out walk by Jesse Winker put two men on for Suárez.\n\nAnother 1-1 pitch, a fastball from Williams, was pulled towards the left-field corner by Suárez with a Statcast-measured 109.2 mph exit velocity. Based on the .990 xBA, there was little doubt it would be both a three-run homer and 4-0 Cincinnati lead.
\"I thought from watching from the side it was a pretty good pitch,\" Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. \"I’m kind of shocked, No. 1, he got it elevated. Shocked, No. 2, that he hit it as far as he did. It’s a credit to him. He took a good swing at a good pitch. We were trying to get a ground ball. He ended up getting it elevated.\"\n\nSix consecutive Reds were retired by Williams, and Pittsburgh rapped off two runs before Suárez led off the top of the sixth inning by muscling a 1-2 pitch for an opposite-field homer. Coming into the night, he was 3-for-20 with nine strikeouts vs. Williams.\n\nDerek Holland was on the mound for the Pirates in the eighth when Suárez punched a 2-1 pitch for his third homer -- again to the other way in right-center field -- to give him balls hit out to three different parts of the park.
“That means my swing is really good,\" Suárez said. \"I never change my swing. I just try to keep it simple and don’t think too much. If I put my best swing on the ball, I’ve got a chance to hit a ball out of the place. I don’t try to hit the ball that way; I don’t try to pull the ball. I follow the baseball and put my best swing, and see what happens.”\n\nSuárez now has four homers in the last two games, nine over his last 15 and 12 for the season. He opened the year 0-for-16 and is still batting just .209 for the season. But the 29-year-old now leads the club in homers and with 27 RBIs.\n\n\"He can hit, huh? That dude can hit,\" said reliever