Pirates’ Oneil Cruz made a diving attempt so wild even his kids caught a stray

Oneil Cruz didn’t save Paul Skenes’ no-hit bid Tuesday night, but the effort to do it may have told the Pittsburgh Pirates even more than if he actually made the catch.

When Mickey Moniak sliced a sinking liner into left-center in the seventh inning, Cruz took off at full speed before launching himself across the PNC Park grass in a desperate attempt to keep the no-hitter alive. The ball skipped underneath his glove for the Colorado Rockies' first hit of the night, but the image of Cruz fully selling out for the play instantly became one of the defining moments of the Pirates’ 3-1 win.

Even Cruz knew how absurd the effort looked afterward, joking that he wouldn’t run that hard to chase his own kids. The line got a laugh out of Skenes. But inside the Pirates clubhouse, the play itself represented something much bigger.

Oneil Cruz earns huge compliment from Don Kelly in Pirates' win over Rockies

Don Kelly called it the best game Cruz has ever played, and it’s hard to argue otherwise. Not because Cruz hit the longest homer of the night or carried the offense by himself, but because every part of his game showed up.

The offense was electric — three hits, two doubles, two runs scored — but the defense might have been even more important. Earlier in the game, Cruz robbed Moniak on a liner into the gap with a read that looked far cleaner than the sometimes-chaotic routes Pirates fans watched him take on Opening Day. Skenes even pointed it out afterward, saying Cruz made difficult plays look routine because of how quickly he reacted off the bat.

Nobody has ever doubted Cruz’s tools. The guy can hit baseballs harder than almost anyone on Earth. He can outrun most players despite looking like an NBA power forward. His arm is ridiculous. The flashes have always been there.

The frustrating part has been how inconsistent it all looked from inning to inning, game to game, sometimes even pitch to pitch. But Tuesday brought maturity, focus and urgency. Even after failing to make the diving catch — one no one would have expected him to make in the first place — Cruz kept attacking the game.

The Pirates have spent years looking for that kind of dependability from Cruz. And for one night at PNC Park, behind baseball’s most electric pitcher, Cruz looked every bit like a superstar growing into the full version of himself.

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