The Pirates shortstop set a record in the first inning Tuesday night, and then broke that same record again in the ninth inning.
Cruz's base knock in the first—a rope down the first-base line—was the hardest hit of the 2024 MLB season, measured at an exit velocity of 120.4 mph. It narrowly unseated New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton's 119.9-mph hit earlier this year.
Later in the game, Cruz strolled up to the plate with two outs in the ninth inning. The Pirates trailed the Giants 6–5. Cruz, facing San Francisco's flame-throwing closer Camilo Doval, swatted another base hit down the first-base line. It brought home the game-tying run and was clocked at 121.5 mph, breaking the season record Cruz set in the first inning.Cruz went 3-for-5 on Tuesday night, adding a double in the third inning that came off his bat at 116.3 mph.
Cruz is the first player in MLB history to crush two balls at least 120 mph in the same game. He's also the first player to have three hits over 115 mph in one game.The 25-year-old Cruz now owns the top two hardest-hit balls of the 2024 season and three of the top four, as he mashed one 119.7 mph earlier this season. Cruz also owns the hardest-hit ball of the Statcast era , a 122.4 mph rope back in August 2022 that he hit off the outfield wall so hard he was held to just a single.
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