Another HR, another steal: Cruz reaches Bonds territory for hot start
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SAN FRANCISCO – Oneil Cruz's journey into the Pittsburgh Pirates’ record books began back in spring training when the Dominican slugger tinkered with his swing a little.
That’s been paying off in a big way for Cruz all season, and it happened again on Sunday at Oracle Park in San Francisco.
Cruz homered with two outs in the fifth inning of the Pirates' 7-6 loss in 12 innings. It was Cruz’s 10th home run this season and put him in elite company.
Cruz joined baseball’s home run king, Barry Bonds, as the only two players in franchise history to have at least 10 home runs and 10 steals through the Pirates’ first 41 games of the season.
“It’s an honor to be right next to a legend like Barry Bonds on those numbers,” Cruz said through a translator. “The work I put in during the offseason is paying off. Also being consistent, hard work and the gift that I got from God to hit the ball really hard. That’s what it is.”
The Pirates’ leadoff hitter squared up the ball nicely the entire series, going 5-for-14 while scoring six runs across the three games.
Cruz also stole his 15th base Sunday, third-most in the Majors. He became the third player since at least 1900 to hit 10 home runs and steal 15 bases before playing his 40th game in a season, joining Eric Davis (1987) and Lou Brock (1967).
The Bucs needed all of it, too, on a day when the Giants offense kept piling up big numbers, eventually winning the game that ended after nearly four hours.
Pittsburgh did well at the plate, too.
Konnor Griffin homered in the second inning, a drive that had an exit velocity of 110.2 mph, the ninth-hardest hit home run by a rookie at Oracle Park during the Statcast Era (since 2015). Spencer Horwitz added two hits and drove in three runs, including a two-run double that put Pittsburgh ahead in the top of the 10th.
But the Giants came back for two runs in the bottom half of the frame against Yohan Ramírez, and the Pirates came up empty their next two frames. San Francisco loaded the bases with one out against Justin Lawrence in the bottom of the 12th after Ryan O'Hearn couldn't catch a fly ball in the right-field corner, and Jesus Rodriguez walked it off with a single.
On the Pirates' side of things, though, the day belonged to Cruz and his historical achievement.
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“Everybody knows what talent he has and everybody knows who he is in the league,” Marcell Ozuna said. “I got here in Spring Training and the approach he’s made since is way different. He feels like he has everything under control, and I’m happy for him.”
Pirates manager Don Kelly was impressed at Cruz’s opposite-field home run against the Giants but is equally happy with the amount of walks that Cruz is drawing.
Cruz walked and scored to lead off Sunday’s game. That gives him 129 free passes since the beginning of the 2024 season; he recorded just 35 in the first three years of his Major League career.
“To go oppo like that … and he's shown patience at the plate, too,” Kelly said. “Against lefties, patient, talking walks. And then he’s got the power to leave anytime.”
He did all of that in San Francisco and was rewarded with a spot next to a legend in the Pirates record books.