Oneil Cruz left on the record Tuesday night.
The Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop not only forced extra innings with a clutch double in the bottom of the ninth at PNC Park, but he also had three hits with exit velocities over 115, which had never been done before in the Statcast era. He absolutely crushed the ball.
Cruz opened the Pirates’ 7-6 victory over the San Francisco Giants with a single in the first inning, leaving his bat at an impressive 120.4 miles per hour. That was the hardest hit ball so far this season in Major League Baseball.
Then, after a 116.3 mph double in the third, Cruz did it again. He broke his own season record with a 191.5 mph double that hit the right field wall, scoring Ji Hwan Bae in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game. That forced overtime and ultimately gave them a walk-off victory in the 10th.
Cruz is now the first player in the Statcast era to record three hits at 110 mph or better in a single game, and the first player to have multiple hits over 120 mph in the same night. Since Statcast was introduced in 2015, only 20 balls have been hit at 125 mph or faster. Cruz owns three, including a record speed of 202.4 km/h that he achieved in 2022.
“I can try to do the same thing, but I mean, that probably looks like his butt-out swing,” Pirates second baseman Jared Triolo said, via the Post-Gazette. “That’s my top velo.”
Cruz has a .260 average at the plate this season. He has seven home runs and 19 RBI with a .303 OBP. The 25-year-old is in his fourth season with the Pirates, who now have a 23-26 record after Tuesday’s win. They have now won four of their last five, leaving them third in the NL Central standings.
