Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Held out of lineup

Cruz isn't part of the starting nine for Friday's game against the Mets.

Cruz has been struggling lately and was benched mid-game Tuesday for a lack of effort before being moved from leadoff to the fifth spot in the batting order. He also has just two hits in his last 31 at-bats and has struck out 12 times during that stretch. He'll leave center field work to Alexander Canario.