Oneil Cruz Homer Leads Pirates Past Rays
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PITTSBURGH — Oneil Cruz has had a great season for the Pittsburgh Pirates and it got even better in his most recent outing.
Cruz hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning in the Pirates' 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in the series opener at PNC Park,
The Pirates have won three out of five games on this homestand, after splitting a four-game series with the Washington Nationals and improving to 7-4 in Pittsburgh this season.
Pittsburgh is also 12-8 in 2026 and remains at the top of the National League Central Division with this victory.
Oneil Cruz Continues Great Season
Cruz has had a sensational showing in 2026 and his home run was another example of just how good he could really be.
Rays right-handed reliever Griffin Jax didn't throw a bad pitch, with a sweeper down and away, but Cruz saw it all the way, crushing it 103.3 mph off the bat and 385 feet into the right field seats.
Oneil Cruz go-ahead homer! pic.twitter.com/hMLwD4Zt39
— MLB (@MLB) April 18, 2026
Cruz made this his sixth home run of the season, tied for seventh-most in baseball and second on the Pirates, just behind second baseman Brandon Lowe with seven home runs so far.
He is slashing .313/.382/.588 for an OPS of .970, with 25 hits in 80 at-bats, four doubles, six home runs, 19 RBI, and nine stolen bases.
Lowe almost joined Cruz with a home run of his own in the bottom of the eighth inning, hitting a ball 101.3 mph and 397 feet, that just fell short, hitting off the top of the left-center field wall.
It still ended up a productive hit, as he scored both pinch-runner Billy Cook and shortstop Konnor Griffin to extend the lead to 5-1.
First baseman Spencer Horwitz had a strong showing for the Pirates, with three hits off of Rays right-handed starting pitcher, including a double in the bottom of the second inning, giving the home team a 1-0 lead.
Bubba Chandler Has Best Start of 2026
Right-handed starting pitcher Chandler was looking for a good outing after not having a consistent showing so far through 2026 and got just that vs. the Rays.
He allowed just three hits, a walk and an earned run over six innings, while posting three strikeouts over 90 pitches
Chandler had issues in his first few two starts with 10 total, but has just three walks over his past two starts.
He did this by getting some fly outs and ground outs early on, keeping the pitch count down, and also allowing just one hit through the first five innings
Chandler would've had a scoreless outing, if not for allowing a single to Rays left fielder Chandler Simpson, that he deflected. He then threw a wild pitch, moving the speedy Simpson to second base and gave up an RBI-single to third baseman Junior Caminero.
This marked the longest outing for Chandler this season and his first quality start of 2026, a great sign for things to come for the Pirates.
Chandler is also relying less on his four-seam fastball, throwing it just 50% of the time vs. the Rays, and going with his offspeed stuff much more often. His slider also registered as a sweeper on statcast, so he threw that 28 times and his changeup 16 times.
Pitch | Usage | Average Velocity |
|---|---|---|
Four-Seam Fastball | 45/90 (50%) | 98.2 mph |
Sweeper | 19/90 (21%) | 87.9 mph |
Changeup | 16/90 (18%) | 91.9 mph |
Slider | 9/90 (10%) | 89.8 mph |
Curveball | 1/90 (1%) | 87.5 mph |
The bullpen followed Chandler with left-handed duo Mason Montgomery and Gregory Soto throwing back-to-back scoreless innings and then right-hander Dennis Santana secured the win in the ninth inning.
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Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.