{"id":622527,"date":"2026-04-23T04:08:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T04:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/622527\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T04:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T04:08:13","slug":"oneil-cruzs-three-run-homer-off-top-of-foul-pole-powers-pittsburgh-pirates-to-win-over-texas-rangers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/622527\/","title":{"rendered":"Oneil Cruz’s three-run homer off top of foul pole powers Pittsburgh Pirates to win over Texas Rangers"},"content":{"rendered":"

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) \u2014 Oneil Cruz<\/a> had the hardest-hit homer in the majors this season, a three-run shot off the top of the right-field foul pole in the ninth inning that powered the Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a> to an 8-4 win over the Texas Rangers<\/a> on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

The Pirates took a 5-4 lead in the ninth when Nick Gonzales<\/a> broke for the plate on pinch-hitter Jake Mangum<\/a>\u2019s one-out chopper to third base off Cole Winn<\/a> (1-1). Josh Jung<\/a>\u2019s throw home pulled catcher Kyle Higashioka<\/a> into foul territory, and Higashioka could not make the tag.<\/p>\n

Cruz followed with his 116.9 mph liner that bounced off the top of the foul pole and into the stands. It was the second hardest-hit ball in the history of Globe Life Field, which opened in 2020.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh\u2019s big ninth gave Gregory Soto<\/a> (1-0) his first win as a Pirate, following his first blown save. The lefty reliever allowed Jake Burger<\/a>\u2019s two-run single in the eighth that tied the score at 4-all. Dennis Santana<\/a> pitched a perfect ninth for his third save in four opportunities.<\/p>\n

Bryan Reynolds<\/a>\u2019 fifth-inning single, which produced his 500th career RBI, was part of a three-run frame that gave the Pirates a 4-2 lead. Reynolds is tied with Bobby Bonilla for the most RBIs by a Pirates switch-hitter. He also scored Pittsburgh\u2019s first run on Marcell Ozuna<\/a>\u2019s first-inning double.<\/p>\n

Pirates starter Braxton Ashcraft<\/a> set career highs with seven innings and 94 pitches, allowing Jung\u2019s two-run homer in the second inning among four hits. Ashcraft grew up about 100 miles south of Globe Life Field near Waco.<\/p>\n

Jung has an RBI in a career-best six consecutive games.<\/p>\n

Texas starter Jack Leiter<\/a>, who turned 26 on Tuesday, allowed four runs, three earned, in five innings. He hasn\u2019t won since his first start this season, at Baltimore on March 30.<\/p>\n

With a single and a walk, Pittsburgh\u2019s Ryan O\u2019Hearn has reached base in 20 of 22 games.<\/p>\n

Up next<\/p>\n

Rangers RHP Jacob deGrom<\/a> (1-0, 2.29 ERA) will pitch on five days\u2019 rest in Wednesday night\u2019s series finale against Pirates rookie RHP Bubba Chandler<\/a> (1-1, 3.15).<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP MLB: https:\/\/apnews.com\/mlb<\/p>\n

The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) \u2014 Oneil Cruz had the hardest-hit homer in the majors this season, a three-run shot…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622528,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-622527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}