PIRATES

Prior to being robbed of a three-run home run by Evan Carter in the fifth inning Tuesday night, Oneil Cruz recalls having a conversation with Marcell Ozuna in which he predicted that he'd hit a home run in an important situation. 

In that particular instance, Cruz wasn't able to follow through. So, before he stepped to the plate against Jalen Beeks in the top of the ninth inning here tonight at Globe Life Field, he had another message for Ozuna. 

"I won’t tell you the exact words that I told him, but in that situation, I told him I was having a rough day," Cruz, via interpreter and major-league coach Stephen Morales, said in referring to his three strikeouts in his first three at-bats tonight. "That was the at-bat where I needed to do something. I said to him that I was gonna hit a home run there." 

Cruz did that and more: 

That monster shot on a cutter right down the middle eventually hit the top of the right-field foul pole to help give the Pirates some late insurance in what would become an 8-4 win over the Rangers. It was Cruz's seventh home run of the season, tying him with Brandon Lowe for the team lead. His three RBIs pushed his season total to 22, putting him in a three-way tie with Chicago's Nico Hoerner and Atlanta's Matt Olson for the fourth-most in Major League Baseball. 

So far this season, Cruz has displayed the power and has come through in situations where he's needed to be a run producer. More importantly though, he's finding success against both righties and lefties. In fact, Cruz has hit four of his home runs, including the one tonight, against left-handed pitchers and is batting .387 against them this season. It's a testament to the work he put in during the offseason to be better in that specific area. 

"Just credit to him and the work that he put in to be ready to do that," Don Kelly said. "It's obviously showing up in the games."