Pirates win 1-0 on leadoff homer for 2nd time since 1900 as Oneil Cruz sparks victory over Nationals

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Oneil Cruz hit a leadoff home run, Andrew Heaney pitched 7 1/3 innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Washington Nationals 1-0 on Thursday.

Cruz hit a grand slam in Wednesday’s 6-1 win and has four home runs this season.

Pittsburgh won 1-0 on a leadoff homer for only the second time since 1900 after Carlos García's drive off the Marlins' Chris Hammond on Sept. 14, 1993, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Heaney (1-1) gave up all five National hits, walked two and struck out four. Ryan Borucki and Dennis Santana preserved the Pirates' first shutout this season, with Santana earning his second save.

Washington's Trevor Williams (1-2) gave up three hits in five innings. Nathaniel Lowe had two hits for the Nationals.

The Nationals were without manager Dave Martinez after he was suspended for one game following a bench-clearing incident Wednesday that resulted in Washington pitcher Jorge López being suspended three games for throwing at Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen. López has appealed. Bench coach Miguel Cairo served as manager Thursday.

Pirates catcher Joey Bart batted cleanup after missing five games with a sore back. Teammate Bryan Reynolds started in the outfield for the first time since March 30 after being confined to DH duties because of a right shoulder injury.

Third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes preserved the shutout in the eighth inning, snagging Amed Rosario's sharply hit ground ball down the line and throwing to first for the third out, stranding a runner at third.

Heaney, a 12-year veteran who signed with the Pirates in the offseason, was 0-2 with a 5.14 ERA in six previous career appearances — five starts — against Washington.

Washington's MacKenzie Gore (1-2, 3.52) pitches against Rockies' Chase Dollander (1-1, 5.06) at Colorado on Friday. The Pirates' Carmen Mlodzinski (1-2, 6.23) will face Cleveland's Luis Ortiz (1-2, 6.06) in Pittsburgh on Friday.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Andrew Heaney delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals in Pittsburgh, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Andrew Heaney delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals in Pittsburgh, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz returns to the dugout after hitting a solo home run off Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams (32) to lead off the baseball game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz (15) rounds third after hitting a solo home run off Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams (32) to lead off the baseball game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

LONDON (AP) — Britain's Conservative Party, which governed the country from 2010 until it suffered its worst-ever electoral defeat two years ago, was plunged into fresh turmoil Thursday after its leader sacked the man widely seen as her greatest rival for apparently plotting to defect from the party.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said in a video and statement on X that she sacked the party's justice spokesperson Robert Jenrick due to “irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect" in a way that was “designed to be as damaging as possible” to the party.

Badenoch also ejected Jenrick from the party's ranks in Parliament and suspended his party membership.

“The British public are tired of political psychodrama and so am I,” she said. “They saw too much of it in the last government, they’re seeing too much of it in this government. I will not repeat those mistakes.”

Though Badenoch did not specify which party Jenrick was planning to switch to, Nigel Farage, leader of the hard-right Reform UK party, said he had “of course” had conversations with him.

In the past 12 months, the Conservatives have suffered a string of defections to Reform UK, including some former Cabinet ministers.

Farage said in a press briefing in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, that coincided with Badenoch's statement that, “hand on heart,” he wasn't about to present Jenrick as the latest Conservative to defect to Reform, an upstart, anti-immigration party.

“I’ll give him a ring this afternoon,” he said. “I might even buy him a pint, you never know.”

The Conservatives are fighting not just the Labour government to their left, but Reform UK to the right. Reform has topped opinion polls for months, trounced the Conservatives in last May’s local elections and has welcomed a stream of defecting Tory members and officials.

Jenrick, who has continued to attract speculation about leadership ambitions despite being beaten in 2024, has appeared more open than Badenoch to the prospect of some sort of deal between the Conservatives and Reform in the run-up to next general election, which has to take place by 2029.

Jenrick has yet to respond to the news of his sacking.

The Conservatives remain the official opposition to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour.

Badenoch, a small-state, low-tax advocate, has shifted the Conservatives to the right, announcing policies similar to those of U.S. President Donald Trump, including a promise to deport 150,000 unauthorized immigrants a year.

Her poor poll ratings and lackluster performance in Parliament had stirred speculation that she could be ousted long before the next election.

However, she has been making a better impression in Parliament in recent weeks in a way that appears to have cemented her position as leader.

The party is no stranger to turmoil, having gone through six leaders in the space of 10 years, five of them serving as prime minister. Widespread anger at the way the Conservatives were governing Britain led to their defeat at the general election in July 2024, when they lost around two-thirds of their lawmakers, their worst performance since the party was created nearly 200 years ago.

Reform Party leader Nigel Farage addresses protesters outside the Iranian embassy, in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

Kemi Badenoch with Robert Jenrick before being announced as the new Conservative Party leader following the vote by party members at 8 Northumberland Avenue in central London, Nov. 3, 2024. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)