They said it: 4 on-field perspectives of Pillar's incredible steal of home

TORONTO - Kevin Pillar broke for home with reckless abandon. His teammates couldn't believe what they were seeing. Even Pillar admits he was so fueled by adrenaline that it just took over.

"I think the moment got a hold of me," Pillar told theScore in the Blue Jays clubhouse at Rogers Centre, two days after stealing second, third, and home off New York Yankees reliever Dellin Betances during a remarkable eighth inning on Saturday.

(Video courtesy: MLB.com)

The Blue Jays had just dropped the first two games to start the season, and Pillar's heroics gave the team a much-needed insurance run in what was an eventual 5-3 win.

"It just came at a time where energy in the stadium was high, the situation was right for it," Pillar said. "It wasn't even thought of before. I got a big lead and he wasn't really paying attention to me - something maybe I don't do two years ago, but now I'm more comfortable with myself and a little more confident now."

Pillar's unexpected effort not only created chaos on the basepaths and a frenzy in the stands, but it also caused quite a stir among his teammates, who were still buzzing days after witnessing baseball magic firsthand. Here's how Pillar's steal was seen from different perspectives around the diamond.

From the dugout

Randal Grichuk: It's very risky. He's got the speed to do it. He knew what he was doing, took second, took third, caught the guy off guard and took home on him. Stealing home isn't something people do a lot of. I kind of saw him jumping off a couple times pretty deep and I was thinking, "Man, I don't know if he's really screwing with him or he's really going to take a chance," and sure enough, he went.

I told him, "That's sick." It's one of those plays you see on ESPN and think is really cool but never really have an opportunity to do it. It was awesome.

From the batter's box

Gift Ngoepe: I did see him coming out of the corner of my eye. I saw him taking steps and thought, "This guy, he's coming, he's coming." I didn't know what to do. I was in the box and I'm like, "Should I give him the way? Should I block the catcher?" And then I'm like, "Let me block the catcher and then get out of the way as soon as he starts sliding." I didn't know what to do.

I thought it was a phenomenal job by him. I've seen it done before, but not at the major-league level. I think I've tried it once but I wasn't very successful and I was a little scared.

From the clubhouse

Marco Estrada: I was inside already so I had to watch it on TV. I was in the trainer's room doing my shoulder stuff because I just finished pitching.

When do you get to see something like that? Never. It was fun to watch and you could kind of tell, he was bouncing around a lot out there so you figure something is up. Next thing you know, he takes off and you're like holy that's crazy. So it's pretty cool to watch. I might not ever see that again.

From Pillar

On stealing second and third: There's a lot of preparation that goes into knowing guys that I have a better chance of stealing bases off of. There's guys that I can't run off of and there's some guys that I know I'm going to have to have a good lead and a good jump. So a lot of it is preparation, but it just came at a time in the game where it's a guy I've seen a lot of, am familiar with, we have our reports on him.

The mad dash home: It's just an adrenaline rush. You don't think about the what if. "What if he makes a good throw? What if he steps off? What if I get thrown out?" In the moment, I'm just going, putting the pressure on and hopefully, it works out - for me it did. You look at the video, if he steps off like he did and makes a good throw, I'm probably out. It's a play that they probably don't prepare for - most teams don't prepare for. It was something in the moment.

What happened next? I had an adrenaline rush until about midnight. I've seen it a couple times on TV. After a while, I get tired of seeing myself.

The straight steal home is one of the highlights of my career.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)