Toronto Blue Jays: Looking back at Kevin Pillar’s memorable moments

Stealing home against the Yankees

He might not have been an elite hitter at the plate but there weren’t many Blue Jays players that could create havoc on the base path like Pillar did in his time with the team.

Delan Betances is not an easy pitcher to get a hit off of but once Pillar singled, he knew he could exploit the Yankees reliever on the bases. He got enough of a lead to make the move to second without a throw from the catcher.

Now in a position to tie the game, Pillar was ready to steal third considering Gift Ngoepe was at the plate. Fortunately, for the Blue Jays Betances looked uncomfortable on the mound and made a bad pitch which allowed Pillar to get to third standing up.

It is rare to see a player steal home plate and the Blue Jays have accomplished it before but Pillar deserves a lot of credit for how he pulled it off. He was almost halfway down the line and didn’t even get a look from the reliever.

Then when he forced Betances to make a decision by running to home and it paid off as the pitcher threw the ball away allowing Pillar to score standing up.