Kevin Pillar Steals Second, Third and Home, ‘Nuff said

Game Recap | Box Score

It’s fitting that on Justin Smoak Bobblehead Day, Justin would end up going three for four, with two RBI’s. While that may seem like the best offensive performance of the night by reviewing the box score, it won’t tell the entire story of the night. The whole story of the night goes to Kevin Pillar.

Coming into the game in the bottom of the 8th to face Dellin Betances in his second inning of work, Pillar hit a solid single to right field. An excellent result and it gave the Blue Jays a chance to pad their 4-3 lead with a couple of good hits. Instead, Kevin must have picked up something off in Betances and Sanchez’ rhythm. He managed to steal 2nd and then 3rd which was in itself surprising. What no one expected is that he would take the chance of stealing home with the hopes that the throw would be off or wild. The throw was wild, Kevin crossed the plate, and the place went wild.

From MLB.com: ““That was a goal of mine in the offseason,” Pillar said. “I lost some weight, and I wanted to be just a little bit lighter on my feet — become more of a base stealing threat. You go back three, four years ago, we were a team that led all of baseball in runs scored and home runs. We don’t have that same lineup anymore. We have to find ways to manufacture runs.” — Kevin Pillar

That was also the first time in Blue Jays’ history that a player stole three bases in one inning.

Luke Maile is looking much more confident at the plate this season, swinging with the type of confidence that wasn’t apparent in 2017 when he batted .146 for the season.