PITTSBURGH – Oneil Cruz went into this series with new hair – dying the tips of his dreads red – and a revised mindset. He felt he hadn’t been aggressive of late, and that it was time to get back to that approach.
On Sunday, there was another change: he bucked his recent slump and got in on the offensive eruption the Pirates had this series at PNC Park. Cruz went deep twice Sunday, once in the first inning and then again in the seventh to push Pittsburgh to double digits, as the Pirates completed a sweep of the Mets with a 12-1 win.
It had been decades since the Pirates had a series like this weekend. They scored at least nine runs in each game, the first time they had done that in a series of at least three games since Aug. 30-Sept. 1, 1999, against the Rockies. They won each game by at least seven runs, which according to the Elias Sports Bureau is just the third time in franchise history they’ve done that in a series of at least three games, the most recent being May 13-15, 1935, against the Phillies.
For a team that had played 21 one-run games in the first 44 games under manager Don Kelly heading into this weekend, some comfortable wins were a nice change of pace.
“I mean, it’s hard enough to get wins, but whenever you’re able to do it like that and everyone’s getting hits, everyone’s throwing well, it feels good as a team,” Ke’Bryan Hayes said.
The bats came into this weekend last in the National League in runs scored, but looked like the lumber company for three days. On Sunday, Henry Davis had his first four-hit game, using the whole diamond. Tommy Pham and Bryan Reynolds both went yard, continuing their hot stretches. Hayes had a pair of doubles and RBIs as part of his three-hit game.
It was Hayes’ best offensive series this season, having multiple hits in every game. He shared that he had some work done to his body to address his alignment recently, and it’s helped him offensively.
“I’ve been able to not think about my body and mechanics,” Hayes said. “Really this past series, just thinking about getting a pitch to hit over the middle of the plate. Just feeling free and not having to worry about that. Hopefully I can keep it going.”
All season, the discussion offensively has centered around needing to pass the baton and string hits and walks together. The Pirates did that this weekend, but as Cruz showed, some pop is also a fast way to get a crooked number on the board. After Hayes opened the scoring in the first with a two-out, two-run single, Cruz followed with a 112.1 mph line drive that landed in the seats in right field. Pham followed with a homer to right, marking the second time this season that the Pirates have gone back-to-back, the other being Andrew McCutchen and Enmanuel Valdez on April 27 against the Dodgers.
Getting Cruz back on track offensively would be a massive boost for the Pirates. He had been slumping in recent weeks, and the center fielder had been making headlines recently for the wrong reasons. In the last homestand, he whiffed on a ball in center that went by him that he didn’t chase down. He was pulled in the eighth inning on Tuesday after Kelly said he didn’t display “effort and energy” running out a double play.
He had a chance to reset after a team off-day Thursday and sitting against a lefty Friday. When he came back, he had a renewed aggressive mindset.
“I think it's a product of walking so much before, you can fall into a trap of being passive and not swinging the bat like you want to,” Cruz said via interpreter and coach Stephen Morales. “Now, I feel like I'm in a better spot now and I'm being more aggressive. That's the plan at least.”
Time will tell if that will help him get back on track, but his manager liked what Cruz brought to the table Sunday.
“He needs to believe in himself,” Kelly said. “Going up there, he's a really good player, a really athletic player. He needs to believe in himself when he's down, because it's hard, man. He's been working at it. I think this past week has been a good learning experience for him."