Pirates manager Derek Shelton disclosed that Cruz was removed from Monday's 8-2 win over the Mets in the bottom of the eighth inning due to his hamstring tightening up when he rounded the bases in the sixth inning, Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Cruz went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run -- his 14th of the season -- and an additional run scored before exiting the contest. After reaching on a base hit in his final at-bat in the bottom of the sixth, Cruz apparently tweaked his hamstring either while advancing to second on Rowdy Tellez's infield single or while coming around to score on Nick Gonzales' double. Cruz played the next two innings in the field before he was replaced when his next turn in the batting order came up in the eighth, due to what Shelton said was out of an "abundance of caution." Based on Shelton's comments, Cruz might have been dealing with cramping rather than a hamstring strain, but fantasy managers will still want to keep close tabs on the shortstop's status heading into Tuesday's series opener in Milwaukee.