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Jays' Coghlan scores best run in recent MLB memory

By Alex Butler

April 26 (UPI) -- Third baseman Chris Coghlan upstaged one of baseball's best catchers Tuesday when he jumped over him to score at Busch Stadium.

The Toronto Blue Jays star was on first base when Kevin Pillar hit a line drive for a triple. He jetted around second and third base before eyeing home plate. St. Louis Cardinals' Stephen Piscotty completed a great throw to Yadier Molina that beat Coghlan to home, forcing him to improvise. Instead of getting tagged out or going for a bulldoze, Coghlan took flight.

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The third baseman launched himself, head first, over an anchored Molina. He hit home plate with his right shoulder during his fall.

His seventh-inning heroics gave the Jays a 3-2 lead. Pillar came around to score on a fielding error, following Coghlan's run.

"It's just tough. You've got all these rules. It used to just be if he's in the line, you run him over," Coghlan told ESPN. "All that stuff happens, believe it or not, as you're running. Even though it's happening really fast, the last three steps are really slow in your mind. Those are all the thoughts that I had. It's like, 'OK, run him over. Oh wait, I don't know, he's in front of the plate. He's down, maybe I can jump, so let's jump.' Kind of like that."

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"I mean I could have run him over because he's right in the middle and there's no place to go."

The Blue Jays [6-14] currently have the worst record in baseball. Coghlan's effort was instrumental in its 6-5 win in extra innings Tuesday.

Coghlan teased that his antics were similar to that of a character in the 1999 film Major League II.

"I was joking. I was trying to do my best Willie Mays Hayes impersonation," Coghlan told the Toronto Star.

Coghlan was 0-for-1 with a walk in the contest. Pitcher Marcus Stroman scored the game's winning run on a throwing error by Cardinals shortstop Aledmys Diaz in the 11th inning.

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