PITTSBURGH -- Oneil Cruz continued making ridiculous baseball feats look easy during the Pirates' 6-5 walk-off win over the Twins on Friday, as his third-inning home run left PNC Park and landed -- on the fly -- in the Allegheny River.
The ball, which traveled a Statcast-projected 450 feet and left his bat at 110.8 mph, was the seventh home run to reach the river on the fly in PNC Park’s 25-year history.
Cruz kept pretty calm when asked about his power abilities, saying he used to gain excitement when he was younger but he doesn’t feel the same emotions anymore.
“Probably feels the same as the last one," Cruz said via interpreter Stephen Morales. "It's just a home run."
After an RBI groundout in his first at-bat, Cruz came out swinging in the third inning. Cruz's solo shot came on a 90.1 mph cutter that Twins starter Taj Bradley attempted to sneak past him in a 3-1 count. It was tied for the 18th-longest home run in MLB this season, taking long enough to get out of the park that Cruz had time to admire it. As of that third-inning at-bat, Cruz has 23 hits with an exit velocity over 110 mph in 2026, including two of the top four exit velocities this year.
“It turns into a golf ball pretty quick,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said postgame.
Cruz continues to add to his record-breaking total at his home ballpark. His home run on Friday marked his seventh to reach the river in any capacity, the most of any Pirates player. Four of those long balls came in the 2024 season.
Friday's homer was Cruz's 12th of the season and his 37th RBI. The 27-year-old is up to a .784 OPS, which would be a career-high if the season ended now.
Cruz’s shot cut the Pirates' deficit to one, making it a 5-4 game. The slugger seems to be heating up as June approaches, after a cold month of May. That mammoth homer was just his third of the month, after slugging nine across March and April.
Minnesota left fielder Trevor Larnach cleared the right field stands in the top of the third inning, reaching the river -- but not on the fly. The home runs were the 86th and 87th to reach the Allegheny, the first since Cardinals outfielder Victor Scott II splashed down on April 28.
As for the walk-off home run hero, Bryan Reynolds -- he’s used to seeing his fellow outfielder pull off absurd feats night after night.
“I was surprised that he only hit it 111 [mph],” Reynolds joked. “...He's got stupid pop.”