ARLINGTON, Texas — Pittsburgh Pirates star Oneil Cruz told Marcell Ozuna in the on-deck circle in the fifth inning Tuesday night that he would hit a home run, only to watch Texas center fielder Evan Carter make a spectacular, leaping catch over the fence in front of the visitors’ bullpen to rob him of a three-run blast.
Cruz had a similar exchange with Ozuna in the ninth inning Wednesday night before heading to the plate with two runners on, the Pirates having just pushed across a tie-breaking run. Cruz had struck out in three of his four previous at-bats.
Cruz rocketed a cut fastball from Jalen Beeks left over the middle of the plate off the top of the right-field foul pole measured at 432 feet. The exit velocity of 116.9 mph made it the hardest-hit ball in the major leagues this season and second hardest ever at Globe Life Field, which opened in 2020. Houston’s Yordan Alvarez launched one 117 mph off José Ureña in August 2024.
Cruz has the record for the hardest-hit ball in the Statcast era, 122.9 mph off Milwaukee’s Logan Henderson on May 25, 2025.
He stood motionless in the batter’s box for a bit and followed the ball’s path, like a golfer watching his drive off the tee. He flapped his arms as he rounded the bases.
“I told him I was having a rough day, but that was the at-bat that I needed to do something,” Cruz said through an interpreter following the Pirates’ 8-4 win over the Rangers. “I said to him that I was going to hit a home run and he pulled me to the side and him me in the head really hard. And then I was on my way to hit.”
“That ball was killed,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a – Ozuna may have hit one like that back in Miami in ’15, But, like, to hit a ball like that off the top of the foul pole, that was unbelievable.
“He’s staying in the moment regardless of what happens prior in that game, what happened in the previous games.”
Asked if he’d seen a replay of the blast, Cruz said he had not.