Big blow: Oneil Cruz placed on Injured List

PITTSBURGH — This article originally appeared on PGHBaseballNOW.com.

The Pittsburgh Pirates will be without their starting center fielder as Oneil Cruz has been placed on the 10-day injured list with non-displaced fourth and fifth metacarpal fractures in his left hand, retroactive to June 8.

Cruz was scratched from Tuesday’s lineup against the Dodgers with recurring hand discomfort. The 27-year-old owns a .264/.350/.427 batting line with 10 doubles, 14 home runs, 44 RBI and 21 stolen bases in 64 games. Cruz ranks fourth in baseball in steals and is tied for ninth in homers.

Despite being tied for the MLB lead with 98 strikeouts, Cruz’s performance this season has been one of the key reasons the Pirates have had a much-improved showing offensively. Entering Wednesday night’s game, Pittsburgh is sixth in baseball with 336 runs.

Click here to read more from PGHBaseballNOW.com.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW