Oneil Cruz returned to the Pittsburgh Pirates after taking a star turn for his native Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic and picked up right where he left off.
Cruz went 1 for 3 in his first game back with the Pirates since Feb. 26, extending his streak of hitting safely to a stretch of six games in which the 6-foot-7 center fielder has batted .500 (8 for 16).
Mitch Keller didn’t fare as well.
Keller had six strikeouts but allowed six runs on four hits, including two home runs, and four walks in a 10-2 loss to the Houston Astros on Tuesday afternoon in a Grapefruit League game before 5,960 at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla.
Brice Mathews hit a two-run homer and Zach Cole a solo shot. Lance McCullers Jr. held the Pirates to one run on three hits and three walks in four innings.
In his first at-bat, Cruz hit a single to left at an exit velocity of 113.2 mph, stole second base then advanced to third when Bryan Reynolds grounded into a double play but was stranded on Marcell Ozuna’s groundout. Cruz struck out in his other two at-bats. Ozuna went 1 for 3 to hit safely for the fifth time in six games, while Ryan O’Hearn went 1 for 2 to raise his average to .370 (10 for 27) this spring.
Reliever Justin Lawrence struck out the side in the sixth on 13 pitches.
Notes: The Pirates reassigned right-handed pitcher Noah Murdock to minor league camp. There are now 38 players (37 active) in big league camp. … Braxton Ashcraft is scheduled to start against Casey Mize when the Pirates play host to the Detroit Tigers at 6:05 p.m. Wednesday.