PITTSBURGH — Oneil Cruz yanked the bright red batting gloves from his gigantic hands after the fifth inning had finally finished Saturday, the Pirates prospect upset after chasing three pitches out of the zone and striking out with two outs and the bases loaded.
As Cruz, the 6-foot-7 shortstop who’s equal parts talented and unique, walked slowly up the third-base line, the PNC Park crowd began to erupt. Many of the announced 22,910 were there to see Cruz make his MLB debut, and they voiced their appreciation following a six-run Pirates outburst.
While the Pirates’ 8-6 victory over the Reds did not happen solely because of the oversized, fun-loving Cruz, he was responsible for much of the buzz that permeated the ballpark on this beautiful October evening.
He also obliterated a ball for a single in the seventh inning. It traveled 118.2 mph, which qualifies as the hardest-hit ball by a Pirates player in the Statcast Era (2015-present), and it took Cruz fewer than two hours to claim that honor.
Cruz finished with two singles in five at-bats. He drove in a run, scored once and also struck out twice with the bases loaded.
Friday was easily the best crowd of the season, with lines snaking around PNC Park roughly 30 minutes before first pitch. Parts of it even felt like — gasp — a playoff atmosphere; with Cruz and Roansy Contreras making their MLB debuts this past week, it doesn’t seem crazy to think this level of excitement might be routine in a couple years.
If that happens, it’s hard to see how it doesn’t involve Cruz, the player the Pirates have joked looks like what would happen if Kevin Durant was born in the Dominican Republic and decided to play baseball.
Cruz has power. He runs like the wind. His arm could shatter glass with a tennis ball. And the guy never, ever seems to stop smiling, his personality infectious.
That the Pirates brought him here was supposed to be a reward for Cruz maturing this season and being more accountable, manager Derek Shelton explained.
It also hasn’t hurt that Cruz has been tearing up Class AAA. In 68 minor league games this season between Class AA Altoona and Class AAA Indianapolis, Cruz hit .310 (84 for 271) with 16 doubles, five triples, 17 home runs, 47 RbIs and a .970 OPS.
After he was promoted Sept. 20, Cruz hit .524 (11 for 21) with five home runs, a .655 on-base percentage and a 1.941 in six games with Cleveland.
“The statistical things are nice,” Shelton said. “His at-bats were really good, but it was more about accountability. We hold that to a high standard and felt he was accountable.”
The excitement to see Cruz was palpable both around the ballpark and inside Pittsburgh’s clubhouse. The same as fans, who routinely gawk at the ridiculous things Cruz has done in the minors — the towering homer, the play in the hole where it takes two or three strides to cover 15 feet — Pirates players were pumped to see what Cruz could do.
Ke’Bryan Hayes called Cruz “a unicorn,” for his freakish natural ability and how easy he makes everything look. The sight of Cruz in an MLB ballpark made Hayes remember spring training a few years back, when Cruz was 19 and walloping homers to straightaway center off the curveball machine.
“I’m really happy for him,” Hayes said. “I can’t wait to see him play.”
The funny part about Saturday, as entertaining as Cruz was to watch, the winning run came from an even bigger — not physically, that would be hard — Pirates pillar in Bryan Reynolds.
With the score tied at 6 in the bottom of the sixth, Reynolds ripped a 1-0 fastball from Reds reliever Tony Santillan into right for his MLB-high-tying eighth triple of the season.
That gave the Pirates a 7-6 lead, and it was the third of four hits for Reynolds on the night. Reynolds is now hitting .483 (14 for 29) over his past nine games.
The Pirates’ fifth-inning rally started with singles from Ben Gamel and Jacob Stallings before Cruz, in his second major league at-bat, drove a full-count splitter from Reds starter Mahle through the right side for a single, which allowed Gamel to score.
Wilmer Difo, who began the game tied for second in the majors with 15 pinch hits, drove in two more runs with No. 16, a triple that he crushed to the right-center field gap. Cruz motored around the bases and nearly caught Stallings by the time he scored.
Cole Tucker’s infield single allowed a fourth run to score, and Michael Chavis put the Pirates in front, 6-5, with his two-run double down the left-field line, Chavis tucking a low-and-inside cutter from left-hander Justin Wilson barely inside the third-base bag.
After Gamel singled and Stallings walked, Cruz had a chance to do more damage with two outs and the bases loaded. However, Cruz swung at three consecutive pitches out of the zone, the second two sliders in the dirt, and struck out to end the inning.
The Reds used a series of plays to construct their 5-0 lead before it disappeared. Sacrifice fly in the first. Second baseman Max Schrock’s bloop single in the third. Third baseman Eugenio Suarez hitting a two-run homer and a solo shot from right fielder Nick Castellanos.
