Kevin Pillar saw an absurdly high pitch from Yu Darvish and homered on it
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In Game 2 of the ALDS, Kevin Pillar led off the fifth inning against Yu Darvish with his Blue Jays clinging to a 2-1 lead. Not having homered since June 16, Pillar saw a pitch 4.2 feet off the ground and decided this was the perfect time to end that streak.
Take a look at the strike zone plot of Pillar's at-bat:
You see pitch No. 4? The one way up and out of the zone? Pillar deposited it in the left-field stands for a solo home run:
As you might imagine, that's a pretty rare feat:
It may not be pretty, but swinging at pitches up near his eyes has been working out well of late for Pillar. Earlier this week, he hit a game-tying RBI double in the AL Wild Card Game on a pitch even higher up and out of the zone. Don't worry, though, he got back to his usual business of making jaw-dropping catches later on in the game:
No wonder the Blue Jays eventually held on for a 5-3 win, and they'll look to close out the series back home at Rogers Centre on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET on TBS and Sportsnet.