Cruz, Bart homers help Pirates push past Blue Jays

With one swing, Oneil Cruz turned the tide on a tied game.

Cruz crushed a 2-2 changeup from Jake Bloss, sending it over the boardwalk in center field for a three-run homer that sailed out of LECOM Park.

Joey Bart followed with a solo shot to center to make it back-to-back homers as the Pirates beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-6, in a Grapefruit League game Wednesday afternoon in Bradenton, Fla.

It was the second homer of spring training for Cruz, who is batting .250 (3 for 12) with five RBIs. Nick Yorke drew a walk, and Jack Suwinski singled but was caught attempting to steal second base. Tommy Pham also walked, putting runners on first and third for Cruz with the score tied at 1-1 in the fifth inning. Cruz quickly made it 4-1.

“It definitely feels good,” Cruz said through translator Stephen Morales in an interview on the SportsNet Pittsburgh broadcast. “All the work we’re putting in in the cage is paying off. It’s always good to have these kinds of results early in the spring.”

Jacob Barnes replaced Bloss, only for Bart to drive his 2-1 fastball just left of the batter’s eye for a 5-1 lead. It was the second straight game with a homer for Bart, who is 4 for 5 with four RBIs in his past two games and improved his batting average to .364.

Rain delayed Mitch Keller’s third start of the spring by 75 minutes, and the Pirates right-hander allowed one run on one hit, a solo shot by catcher Alejandro Kirk in the second inning for a 1-0 Blue Jays lead. Keller gave up three walks and had three strikeouts while throwing 36 of 62 pitches for strikes in 3 2/3 innings.

The Pirates tied the score in the fourth, loading the bases on a Cruz walk, Bart single and Ke’Bryan Hayes walk. DJ Stewart hit a bouncer to first for a forceout at second that allowed Cruz to score and make it 1-1.

After the homers by Cruz and Bart gave the Pirates a four-run cushion, Blue Jays left fielder Anthony Santander hit a solo homer over the boardwalk off Carson Fulmer to cut it to 5-2 in the sixth. The Pirates answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, on Brice Johnson’s RBI single to score Joshua Palacios and Nick Solak’s sacrifice fly to drive in Henry Davis for a 7-2 lead.

The Blue Jays added a run in the seventh when Damiano Palmegiani drove in Nathan Lukes on a double off Joey Wentz. They scored three more in the eighth on back-toback homers off Yohan Ramirez, a two-run blast by Arjun Nimmala and Alan Roden’s solo shot.

Notes: Paul Skenes is scheduled to make his second start of spring training against Zach Eflin when the Pirates visit the Baltimore Orioles at 6:05 p.m. Thursday at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota. The game will be televised on SportsNet Pittsburgh.