Blue Jays' Pillar hits first-ever multi-HR game against Nats' Max Scherzer
To hit two home runs in any game is an impressive feat. To hit two home runs off Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer in a game is even more impressive. To hit home runs off Max Scherzer in a game for one's first-ever multi-home-run game is downright uncanny.
Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Pillar did just that on Tuesday against the Nats ace, driving in all four earned runs Scherzer was charged with in the Nationals' 7-3 loss in the second game of a doubleheader against the Blue Jays.
Pillar, who had five home runs in 89 games in his first two seasons in the majors, revealed after the game that his multi-HR performance wasn't just the first of his big-league career.
"I was telling the guys, I've never hit two home runs at any level," Pillar said. "Never in Little League, college, high school, any level. That's the first time I had two home runs in a game and to do it against a guy like Max Scherzer, it was definitely a really special day for me and a day I'll never forget."
Nationals manager Matt Williams was surprised by Scherzer's unusual poor outing.
"A little different tonight," Williams said. "But he had the lead. The ball Pillar hit was just a hanger in the middle of the plate."
On the opposite side of the action, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was delighted at Pillar's achievement.
"That's a huge night. To do that against the guy he did it against," Gibbons said. "He had been scuffling for a while. He threw some hits out there in Minnesota, so you could see it coming, but he has been working his butt off and he made some adjustments. Good for him, it couldn't happen to a better guy. [Against] Scherzer, you're lucky to get one and then you get two, that's pretty impressive."
(h/t MLB.com)
