PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – He didn't play in the game, yet may have had the biggest impact as the Pirates break their seven-game losing streak beating Milwaukee 5-3 Tuesday night.
With two-on and one-out and down 3-0 in the sixth, injured outfielder Jake Marisnick turned to Oneil Cruz and challenged him to hit a double. Cruz told Marisnick he would hit a home run. That's what he did off Brewers ace Corbin Burnes.
"That's the confidence you have to have up here," Cruz said through interpreter Mike Gonzalez. "When he brought up that comment, right away I thought to myself I'm here to tie up this game. I'm going to go crush that ball."
"For him to take an 87-88 mile-an-hour changeup that looked like it was off the plate away and hit it dead centerfield off the reigning Cy Young Award winner," said Pirates Manager Derek Shelton. "It's a huge moment."
"You have to have long arms to get there. You have to have the ability to stay within your body. What I mean is you have to be stable over your legs to be able to extend out. Even if he has long arms and he gets out there, usually you roll over that. The ability to stay through that is the most impressive thing."
"It's crazy, he's a freak," said Bucs pitcher Wil Crowe who earned the save with a three strikeout ninth inning. "He's like Baby Shaq on a baseball field. I love him, he's a great player. It's fun to be at the ballpark and pitch in front of him and watch him hit for us."
"We watched the video of his home run in the bullpen for two straight innings because it looked like he just flicked it out there and it goes 105 mph and 408 feet. It's a pleasure to play behind him, he's a freak of nature. I'm glad he's on my team."
The timing was impeccable for his seventh home run in 35 MLB games. Starter Bryse Wilson had cruised until the top of the sixth inning, when he gave up three solo home runs and the Brewers led 3-0.
"That's huge, you give up those runs and you have Burnes on the other side," Wilson said. "It can be a little bit of a negative thought process with a pitcher like that on the other side. With him being able to do that, makes me feel a little better."
Interesting quote
Bucs GM Ben Cherington said he was going to talk with Shelton after Tuesday's game and over the next couple of days about the roster post-trade deadline. Cherington said he was going to leave it up to Shelton as to who would play, as the Bucs GM saying it could be the veterans getting time. Shelton said this after the game.
"You are going to see a lot of our young guys moving forward," Shelton said. "We've seen them now, but we will continue to see it."
