Cruz missile strikes top of right-field foul pole at 116.9 mph, hardest hit ball this season

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — 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.

No one could rob Cruz of this homer.

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.

“I saw it person. I don’t need to see it.”

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

Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz (15) celebrates his three-run home run as he rounds first past Texas Rangers' Jake Burger, rear, in the ninth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz (15) celebrates after hitting a three-run home run in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz celebrates his three-run home run in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz celebrates his three-run home run in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz celebrates his three-run home run with Brandon Lowe (5) in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Union Pacific delivered 5% higher earnings in the first quarter as the railroad worked to prepare its case to convince regulators that its $85 billion acquisition of eastern rival Norfolk Southern is a good idea.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based railroad said Thursday that it earned $1.7 billion, or $2.87 per share, but it estimated that merger-related costs weighed down the results by 6 cents per share. That's still up from last year's $1.63 billion, or $2.70 per share. And the results topped the $2.86 per share that the analysts surveyed by FactSet Research expected.

Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena said the railroad continued to get more efficient during the quarter as it benefited higher rates even as it prepared its case for the merger. Vena said he's even more convinced now that creating the nation's first transcontinental railroad would be good for customers and the country because Union Pacific will be able to deliver goods more quickly at a lower cost.

“Service is going to be better. We provide more opportunity. We take trucks off of the highway and our employees are guaranteed jobs,” Vena said. “I think we’re more convicted now that this is good for country and good for Union Pacific. And financially, it is good for our shareholders.”

The railroad’s revenue grew 3% to $6.22 billion even though it hauled about 1% fewer shipments. That’s because the rates it charges continued to increase and the railroad benefited from fuel surcharge fees.

Union Pacific’s expenses also grew 3% to $3.76 billion.

The railroad affirmed its outlook for midsingle digit growth in its earnings per share this year in line with its long-term plan. It plans to invest $3.3 billion in its operation.

Union Pacific plans to resubmit its application to acquire Norfolk Southern next week. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board rejected the railroad's first request to approve the $85 billion merger because the regulators wanted more information. The STB hasn't yet decided whether the deal that would cut the number of major freight railroads down to five will enhance competition.

The deal has divided labor and the shippers who rely on both railroads. UP is already one of the biggest railroads and it serves the western United States. The nation's largest rail union and a number of the smaller ones supported the merger after Union Pacific promised that their workers would have jobs for life, but two of the other largest unions that represent engineers and track maintenance workers oppose it.

The railroads' customers are also split with trade groups representing chemical makers and agricultural businesses expressing concerns, but hundreds of other businesses lining up behind it. President Donald Trump has also said the deal sounds good to him.

Vena has argued that creating a railroad that stretches from coast to coast would be good for the economy because without the need for a hand-off between railroads in the middle of the country rail shipments would move faster, meaning it could better compete against trucking.

FILE - A Union Pacific worker walks between two locomotives that are being serviced in a railyard in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Dec. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Josh Funk, File)

FILE - A Norfolk Southern freight train rolls past the U.S. Steel's Clairton Coke Works, in Clairton, Pa., Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)