Oneil Cruz, Travis Swaggerty belt homers, but Pirates fall short against Tigers

Shortstop Oneil Cruz smacked his first home run of spring training, and outfielder Travis Swaggerty crushed a three-run homer in the eighth inning, but the Pittsburgh Pirates fell short against the Tigers, 8-7, on Wednesday at Publix Field in Lakeland, Fla.

Cruz hit a two-run shot 355 feet to the opposite field in the fifth inning and improved to 3 for 8 this spring with two RBIs and two runs scored.

Swaggerty’s blast came in the eighth inning and tied the score at 7.

The Tigers’ Nick Maton hit a walk-off homer off Pirates minor league call-up reliever Osvaldo Bido in the bottom of the ninth to give Detroit the 8-7 win.

Eric Haase and Tyler Nevin also homered for the Tigers.

Pirates starter Johan Oviedo was tagged for four runs on five hits in the first inning. He retired the final four batters he faced.

Also for the Pirates, Liover Peguero notched his fourth RBI of the spring with a run-scoring single. Endy Rodriguez, normally a catcher, started at first base. And Duane Underwood Jr. struck out the side in the third inning, throwing nine of his 11 pitches for strikes.

The Pirates return to action Thursday with split squad games against the Yankees at 1:05 p.m. at LECOM Park in Bradenton and at Dunedin against the Blue Jays at 1:07 p.m.