Isiah Kiner-falefa Addresses Baserunning Decision That Might Have Cost Blue Jays Game 7

The Blue Jays came wrong a hair’s breadth of winning nan World Series successful Game 7 on Saturday night. Literally, and connected aggregate occasions. But nan astir achy miss came successful nan bottommost of nan ninth inning.

Toronto had loaded nan bases connected Dodgers prima Yoshinobu Yamamoto pinch only 1 retired and nan crippled tied. Utility infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa was connected 3rd guidelines arsenic nan pinch runner for Bo Bichette. Daulton Varsho was astatine nan sheet and smacked a grounder correct astatine Los Angeles 2nd baseman Miguel Rojas. Rojas fielded nan grounder cleanly but stumbled arsenic he was trying to propulsion retired Kiner-Falefa astatine home. He managed to get it location conscionable successful time. On nan different end, catcher Will Smith concisely lifted his ft disconnected nan sheet to drawback Rojas’s propulsion and only conscionable barely got it backmost down successful time. The Dodgers earned nan unit out, got nan past retired of nan inning 1 batter later, and were World Series champions yet again soon thereafter.

Afterwards location was overmuch talk of really narrowly nan Blue Jays mislaid nan deciding crippled of nan Fall Classic, and location was nary shortage of fans calling retired Kiner-Falefa for perchance costing his squad nan game. A birds-eye position showed he had a very, very mini lead disconnected nan third-base container erstwhile Varsho deed nan grounder. Given Rojas’s stumble and Smith lifting his ft disconnected nan plate, it seems rather imaginable (if not likely) that Kiner-Falefa would person been safe if he had taken a normal lead from nan commencement aliases a secondary lead aft nan shot was hit.

Kiner-Falefa was asked astir nan determination to instrumentality adjacent to nan container aft his squad mislaid successful devastating fashion. The seasoned revealed it was nan coaching staff’s call successful bid to debar immoderate anticipation of a double play if Varsho deed a liner to 3rd baseman Max Muncy.

It’s a sensible explanation, particularly successful ray of really Game 6 ended. The Blue Jays had men connected 2nd and 3rd pinch 1 retired successful nan bottommost of nan ninth successful a one-run game, but Addison Barger drifed excessively acold disconnected 2nd and sewage doubled up to extremity nan crippled pursuing a difficult statement thrust to Kiké Hernández successful near field. It lines up that nan Toronto coaches were other alert of nan anticipation successful Game 7 successful that context.

Obviously they would person played it otherwise successful retrospect. Such is nan symptom of sports. It each seems truthful clear pinch nan use of hindsight.

A gut-wrenching nonaccomplishment for nan Blue Jays, who now person respective months to bespeak connected whether an other measurement disconnected nan container by Kiner-Falefa could person changed everything.

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