Three Baserunning Blunders That Cost Blue Jays A World Series Title

The Blue Jays will beryllium reasoning astir really close they came to winning nan 2025 World Series for years. In 1 of nan champion bid we’ve ever seen, Toronto came up short, losing to nan Dodgers successful 7 bruising games. Despite L.A.’s victory, overmuch of nan chat aft nan crippled has focused connected nan Blue Jays’ blunders.

Toronto had issues moving nan bases each series, but 3 monolithic mistakes led straight to nan team’s downfall. Here’s a look astatine really they happened and really each could person changed nan result of nan series.

In nan epic, 18-inning Game 3 battle we’ll beryllium talking astir for years, nan Blue Jays had respective chances to return a lead successful other innings. Unfortunately, they could ne'er push a tally across. Some of that was owed to John Schneider’s over-managing, but 1 lawsuit was simply a bad determination connected nan bases.

In nan apical of nan 10th inning pinch 2 outs and nan crippled tied 5-5, Ty France singled to near and was replaced connected nan bases by Davis Schneider. Nathan Lukes stepped to nan spot to look Emmet Sheehan and laced nan first transportation he saw down nan correct section statement and into nan corner. Schneider was disconnected astatine nan ace of nan bat, and 3rd guidelines coach Carlos Febles opted to nonstop him home. It was a horrid decision. Dodgers correct fielder Teoscar Hernández has a awesome arm, arsenic does his relay partner Tommy Edman. Schenider was retired by a mile attempting to score.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was connected platform and would person stepped into nan container pinch runners connected 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs. The Dodgers apt would person walked him to look Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who had pinch-run for Bo Bichette earlier. Still, Toronto would person had a amended chance pinch Kiner-Falefa attempting to get a deed disconnected Sheehan than Schneider moving connected Hernández and Edman.

Game 6: Barger doubled disconnected 2nd guidelines to suffer nan game

In Friday night’s matchup successful Toronto, the Blue Jays fell 3-1 but had a aureate opportunity to necktie nan crippled successful nan bottommost of nan ninth inning. Roki Sasaki opened nan framework by hitting Alejandro Kirk. Then Addison Barger deed a ground-rule double that sewage stuck nether nan fence. That apt costs them a run, but created 2nd and 3rd pinch nary outs.

They had 3 outs to get those runners location and grounded to do so.

Tyler Glasnow entered nan crippled for nan Dodgers, and Ernie Clement opted to plaything astatine nan first transportation he saw, popping retired harmlessly to Freddie Freeman astatine first base. Andrés Giménez past looped a 1-0 transportation into shallow near field, but it hung up conscionable capable for Kike Hernández to sprint successful and make a moving catch. Barger misread nan shot and took disconnected for 3rd guidelines earlier realizing it wasn’t going to drop. Hernández caught it, fired nan shot to 2nd and doubled disconnected Barger, ending nan game.

Had Barger held astatine second, George Springer would person travel to nan sheet pinch 2 outs needing only a azygous to necktie nan game. Springer was 2-for-4 pinch an RBI connected nan nighttime and is arguably Toronto’s second-best hitter. Instead, Barger’s blunder ended nan game.

In nan bottommost of nan ninth, aft nan Dodgers tied nan crippled astatine 4-4 connected Miguel Rojas’s improbable solo location run, nan Blue Jays had a chance to extremity it. With Blake Snell connected nan mound, Guerrero flew retired to heavy halfway earlier Bo Bichette singled to left. Kiner-Falefa pinch ran for him, past Barger walked aft a nine-pitch at-bat. L.A. pulled Snell and brought successful Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who deed Kirk pinch his 2nd transportation to load nan bases. That’s erstwhile things sewage interesting.

On a 1-2 pitch, Daulton Varsho grounded nan shot to Rojas astatine second. He stumbled making nan play, but was capable to propulsion a onslaught location to catcher Will Smith to barely hit Kiner-Falefa coming home. On replay, it was adjacent arsenic to whether Smith kept his ft connected location plate, but nan play was upheld aft a review.

Observers noticed that Kiner-Falefa took almost nary lead disconnected 3rd base, and didn’t get overmuch of a secondary lead aft Yamamoto began to move towards location plate. He had plentifulness of room, arsenic Dodgers 3rd baseman Max Muncy was playing disconnected nan line. Visual grounds is below.

If Kiner-Falefa had taken different measurement aliases 2 disconnected nan base, he almost surely would person scored, arsenic Rojas’s propulsion location only hit him by inches. That would person ended nan crippled and nan series. Instead, he was out, and it was a monolithic missed opportunity.

With 2 outs and nan bases still loaded, Clement flied retired to nan informing track, wherever Andy Pages made an outstanding drawback to extremity nan inning.

The crippled moved to other innings, wherever nan Dodgers would triumph it acknowledgment to an 11th-inning Will Smith location tally and Yamamoto’s heroic pitching performance.

The Blue Jays had repeated chances to triumph nan series, but successful nan moments that mattered nan most, they came up short. That was nan difference.

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