On a night that was all about Paul Skenes striking out 10 in eight scoreless innings, the all-around performance by Oneil Cruz was not lost on Pittsburgh Pirates manager Don Kelly.
Cruz went 3 for 4 with two doubles and scored two runs, but it wasn’t just his offense that drew notice in the 3-1 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night at PNC Park.
The Pirates center fielder robbed Mickey Moniak of a hit on a line drive to left-center in the fourth inning, then sprinted and made a diving attempt to preserve Skenes’ no-hit bid on a single in the seventh.
Kelly called it “the most complete game” Cruz has played.
“Honestly, I thought that was the best game that Oneil Cruz has played,” Kelly said. “When you’re talking about the offensive approach, the doubles, the aggressiveness at the plate, the plays and the jumps that he got in the outfield, I mean, he sold out to try to make that play.”
Cruz took pride in the compliment, considering he has had his share of peaks and valleys. He made two costly defensive mishaps in the season opener against the New York Mets, when Skenes lasted only two-thirds of an inning after giving up five runs on 37 pitches.
“It means a lot coming from Donnie,” Cruz said.
It was the fourth game for Cruz with three hits or more, but he has had better offensive outputs this season. He homered twice at Cincinnati on March 31, went 4 for 5 in an 11-inning win at the Chicago Cubs on April 11 and had three hits and scored three runs on Saturday at San Francisco.
Cruz credited Pirates designated hitter Marcell Ozuna, a 13-year veteran and fellow native of the Dominican Republic, for his constant reminders to keep his focus and mind into the game.
“He’s always giving me advice and keeping me in the game mentally, to go out there and perform,” Cruz said. “Nothing specific, but it has been an everyday thing. He always tries to keep me hitting-wise or defensively in a fine frame of mind to go out there and perform and give a good effort.”
Cruz helped give Skenes an early cushion when he hit Michael Lorenzen’s first-pitch fastball 393 feet at a 112.5-mph exit velocity off the center field wall for a leadoff double in the first inning, then scored on a single to right by Nick Gonzales for a 1-0 lead.
Cruz added a ground-rule double to left-center in the fifth, putting himself in position to score on Brandon Lowe’s single to right for a 2-0 lead. Cruz added an opposite-field single in the seventh, when the Pirates added another run on a Bryan Reynolds RBI single.
Skenes wasn’t watching every at-bat but appreciated Cruz’s contributions on offense and defense, especially his effort in the outfield.
“Watching the reads he got off the bat, that was different,” Skenes said. “You talk about catch probabilities and crap like that, he got to a couple balls that were probably a little low catch probability that he made look routine. It’s good to have him back there.”
The 6-foot-7, 248-pound Cruz covered a lot of ground attempting to preserve the no-hit bid, but Moniak’s low line drive bounced under his outstretched glove for a one-out single in the seventh. Afterward, Cruz joked that he wouldn’t run that fast to chase his children.
That line that drew a laugh from Skenes.
“Sweet,” Skenes said, with a smile. “Yeah, it’s cool. Definitely a good compliment. I don’t know. It’s nice to know that he’s back there fighting for us. I’d do the same for him.”
The way Skenes saw it, the plays Cruz made in the outfield made up for the one that he didn’t.
“I mean, it all evens out, right?” Skenes said. “He made a couple of really good plays before that and after that. So didn’t make that one. I guess I deserve it. That was cool. Obviously, that’s probably really not a ball that you would lay out for. Seeing him lay out, that was kind of cool. He played a heck of a game.”