Pirates' Cruz Homer Sparks Comeback Win

0:00It's April 23rd. I'm Corey with the story. This is MLB News Today, driven by AI and Bill for baseball fans. Pittsburgh pirates just snatched an 8-4 comeback win over the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. Down in a four-all tie heading to the ninth, center-fielder O'Neal Cruz crushed a three-run homer to flip the script and lock in the victory. Youngstarter, Braxton Ascraft, owned the mound for a career-high seven innings on 94 pitches, scattering four hits and two earned runs. His sliders at 92.7 miles per hour and sinkers at 96.4 dominated, holding Texas at bay despite an early two-run shot. The game swung wild early. Pirates grabbed a one-nothing lead in the first, stretched it to 4-2 in the fifth on timely hits from Brian Reynolds and others. But set up man Gregory Soto, with his sharp 0.77 ERA, coughed up the lead in the eighth on a couple key knocks, tying things up and testing Pittsburgh's

1:00grit. Ninth inning magic kicked in quick, back-to-back singles, a chopper for one run, then Cruz smashed a 79.7 mile per hour cutter. 422 feet to right, his seventh homer tying the team lead. Dennis Santana slammed the door with a clean bottom half. Series nodded 1-1 after that April 23rd opener loss. Pirates now 14-10 overall, 6-5 away. They chased the finale went tomorrow to cap this road swing strong.