Cruz was drafted by the expansion Mariners. He missed one-third of the 1979 season with a torn ligament in his left thumb. Injuries also sidelined him for two months or more in ’80 and ’81, but he still stole more than 40 bases each year. With Willie Wilson, Cruz shares the AL record with 32 consecutive successful stolen base attempts. On June 7, 1981, he set an AL record for second basemen (and tied the ML record) with 18 total chances without an error in nine innings. The game went 11 innings and he handled one more chance to fall one short of the ML record.