Bill Center, longtime sportswriter for U-T San Diego, is an employee of the Padres.

We used to call what Franmil Reyes has “easy power.”

It belonged to a rare group of players who didn’t have to swing hard to drive balls beyond outfield fences.

“Easy power” came with something else. Many of the players with easy power didn’t swing-and-miss with the regularity of other power hitters.

I become a bigger fan of Reyes with almost every swing.

Tuesday night, Reyes had two home runs against Seattle, driving in half the Padres’ runs in a 6-3 win at Petco Park.

The home runs were Reyes’ first in seven games. Yes, the rather large right fielder -- 6-foot-5 and 280 pounds -- had been in his second slump of the young season. After going 2-for-22 to start the season, Reyes was 2-for-15 this time with eight strikeouts.

Bigger picture -- the 23-year-old Reyes now has six homers in his last 42 at-bats since April 8. That is some kind of strong for a young player still learning the ropes. It could be a fun ride.

NOTEBOOK

• Kirby Yates picked his 11th save of the season Tuesday night to move back into a tie for the Major League lead with Detroit closer Shane Green. Yates has saves in back-to-back games after going a week without a chance to save a game as the Padres suffered six straight losses. Yates’ first nine saves came in the Padres’ first 16 games. In 13, one-inning appearances this season, Yates has allowed a run on eight hits and three walks with 20 strikeouts for a 0.69 earned run average and a 0.846 WHIP. He is 11-for-11 in save opportunities and has made nine straight scoreless appearances.

• Fernando Tatis Jr. was 2-for-4 Tuesday to stretch his hitting streak to 11 straight games. It is tied for the second-longest active streak in the National League. It is also the longest by a Padres rookie since Franmil Reyes hit in 12 straight games last Sept. 7-21. Of course, the longest hitting streak ever by a Padres’ rookie is 34 straight games by Benito Santiago in 1987. That streak is also the longest ever by a Padre, a Major League rookie and a catcher. Tatis is hitting .390 (16-for-41) during the streak with two doubles, a triple, three home runs, seven RBIs, five runs scored and three walks for a .432 on-base percentage and a .634 slugging percentage for a 1.066 OPS.

• Wil Myers is 7-for-23 (.304) in his last six starts with a double, two homers, four RBIs, three runs scored and two walks for a .360 on-base percentage and a .609 slugging percentage for a .969 OPS.

• Eric Hosmer is 6-for-21 over his last five games following an 0-for-10 drought, raising his batting average from .194 to .216. He has two doubles and a homer with six RBIs.

• Austin Hedges has four homers among his last seven hits (with eight RBIs) dating back to April 6. He is 7-for-40 during the stretch with no walks and 12 strikeouts. Tuesday night’s unusual homer marked the fifth time in his career that he has homered in back-to-back games.