What happened to Oneil Cruz? Latest on Pirates shortstop after horrific incident vs White Sox

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz suffered a horrific left ankle fracture after colliding with Chicago White Sox catcher Seby Zavala during Sunday’s encounter between the two teams.

Oneil Cruz sustained this injury when he attempted to score from third on Ke’Bryan Hayes’ grounder to Zavala in the sixth inning. He collided with Zavala while sliding to reach base, and was in severe pain as soon as the contact happened. Benches of both teams cleared after words were exchanged between Pirates DH Carlos Santana and Zavala. However, no players were ejected.

The mood in the Pirates camp has gone somber even though they managed to pull of a 1-0 victory. Pittsburgh are 6-3 at this point and have won two consecutive series, a feat that they achieved only once in the previous season. Quite unsurprisingly, everyone was distraught in the Pirates camp.

What could have been a routine baseball play, turned into a freak accident and later escalated into the benches getting cleared. White Sox catcher Seby Zvala shouted at Oneil Cruz after he was wriggling with pain on the floor, prompting a response from the Pirates. Zvala mentioned that he didn't like the late lunge by Cruz to slide in. When informed that Cruz fractured an ankle, Zavala added:

“Just a baseball play. Didn’t want anybody to get hurt, didn’t want it to escalate that far. It escalated and I can’t really do anything about it.”

Carlos Santana feels he was right in his place to defend Oneil Cruz

Seby Zvala's response to the incident prompted Pirates DH Carlos Santana to stand up for his teammate. He approached Zvala and pushed him on his chest guard before the two players were separated and taken to different corners of the field.

“[Cruz] wasn’t trying to hit [Zavala] on purpose,” Santana said. “It was a quick play. Everything was fast. I don’t like how [Zavala] screamed at [Cruz] when he got hurt. For me, I had to support my teammate.”

The severity of the injury to Cruz is yet to be determined. Till then, backup options from the Pirates need to be ready.