Blue Jays 2025 World Series What Ifs: Bad Breaks That Cost Toronto Against Dodgers

Blue Jays 2025 World Series What Ifs: Bad Breaks That Cost Toronto Against Dodgers image

The Blue Jays came closer to winning the World Series than any team in recent memory without actually hoisting the trophy. They pushed the Dodgers to an epic seven-game series that’ll be remembered as one of the greatest Fall Classics ever played.

History shows the Los Angeles Dodgers became baseball’s first back-to-back champions in decades, but Toronto’s “what ifs” from this series will haunt fans for years. From a freak dead ball in Game 6 to inches deciding the championship in Game 7, the Blue Jays lost on the smallest of margins.

The turning points all seemed to fall the wrong way for Toronto, especially in those final two games when they had chances to close out the series. Let’s break down the moments that’ll forever define what could have been for the 2025 Blue Jays.

The Dead Ball That Changed Everything

Game 6 at Rogers Centre gave Toronto their first chance to clinch. Leading the series 3-2, they needed one win at home to bring the city its first championship since 1993.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto kept the Blue Jays’ offense quiet for six innings before they finally got to the Dodgers’ bullpen. Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Toronto found themselves facing Roki Sasaki with Alejandro Kirk on first after getting hit by a pitch.

That’s when Addison Barger stepped up representing the tying run.

Barger crushed a ball deep to center field that looked like it might tie the game. Instead, the baseball gods had other plans. The ball wedged perfectly between the bottom of the wall and the field – one of the most improbable plays you’ll ever see in baseball.

Justin Dean immediately threw his hands up, signaling a dead ball. The umpires ruled it a ground-rule double, meaning Kirk had to stop at third instead of scoring what would’ve been the tying run.

MLB Network’s Mark DeRosa later showed just how unlikely it was for a ball to get stuck in that exact spot. The timing couldn’t have been worse for Toronto.

Dean knew exactly what to do. “Something you’re taught from an early age,” he said afterward. “If you see this, throw your hands up… Growing up playing baseball, I’ve heard that rule countless times.”

The call was correct according to MLB rules, but that didn’t make it any easier for Blue Jays fans to swallow. They were one freak bounce away from pulling within a run with a chance to win the World Series.

Bad Baserunning Ends Game 6

Even after the dead ball call, Toronto still had life. With runners on second and third and one out, they needed just a hit to tie or take the lead.

Andrés Giménez lined a ball into left field that looked promising for a moment. But Kiké Hernández had other plans.

Hernández sprinted in to make the catch, then quickly turned his attention to second base where Barger was caught in no-man’s-land. The throw to Miguel Rojas completed an inning-ending double play that crushed Toronto’s hopes.

It’s a rare way to lose a game, let alone a potential World Series clincher. If Barger had been running the bases correctly, Toronto would’ve gotten at least one more at-bat to keep their championship dreams alive.

Instead, they were heading to Game 7.

Game 7: So Close, Yet So Far

The decisive game started perfectly for Toronto. Bo Bichette launched a three-run homer to give the Blue Jays an early 3-0 lead, and Rogers Centre was electric. For about an hour, it looked like Toronto was cruising toward their first championship since the Joe Carter days.

But championship teams don’t go quietly. The Dodgers chipped away with sacrifice flies and a solo shot from Max Muncy, making it 4-3 Blue Jays entering the ninth inning.

Three outs away from a championship, manager John Schneider handed the ball to closer Jeff Hoffman. The matchup looked favorable: Hernández, Rojas, and Shohei Ohtani coming to the plate.

Hoffman struck out Hernández to start the inning.

Then came the heartbreak.

Rojas – who hadn’t homered since September 19th – turned on a seventh-pitch slider and tied Game 7 at four runs. It was just the second game-tying or go-ahead homer in the ninth inning or later of a winner-take-all World Series game in history, per ESPN.

Of all the Dodgers’ stars, it was Rojas who delivered the crushing blow.

Inches From Glory

But the Blue Jays weren’t done. In the bottom of the ninth, they loaded the bases with one out. Bichette singled, Barger walked and was pinch-run for by Isiah Kiner-Falefa, then Kirk got hit by a pitch.

Bases loaded, one out, Game 7 of the World Series. Toronto was 90 feet away from a championship.

Daulton Varsho grounded to second base, and Rojas – the same guy who’d tied the game – had to make a perfect throw home to keep the Dodgers’ title hopes alive.

The throw was in time, but barely. Will Smith’s foot appeared to come off the plate for a split second as Kiner-Falefa slid home. Camera angles showed just how close it was – we’re talking about an inch or two that separated the Blue Jays from their first championship in over 30 years.

The out call stood. Smith’s foot got back down just a hair earlier than the runner’s slide.

One pitch later, Andy Pages made a spectacular catch at the wall, nearly colliding with Hernández in the process. Ernie Clement had crushed what looked like the World Series-winning hit, but Pages somehow hauled it in to send the game to extras.

The Final Heartbreak

After surviving the 10th inning, Will Smith crushed a moonshot in the 11th to give the Dodgers a 5-4 lead. The same guy whose foot placement had saved LA earlier was now delivering the dagger.

But Toronto wasn’t finished. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led off the bottom of the 11th with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, and watched Barger draw a walk.

Once again, the tying run was 90 feet away. The winning run was on first base. Kirk stepped to the plate with a chance to be a hero.

Instead, he grounded into a game-ending double play turned by Mookie Betts. The Dodgers had their second straight championship, and the Blue Jays were left wondering what might have been.

The Blue Jays lost on the smallest of margins – a dead ball rule, a few inches on a force play, spectacular defensive catches. They were three outs away from a championship twice and couldn’t get there.

That’s baseball for you. Sometimes the difference between glory and heartbreak comes down to inches, and Toronto found itself on the wrong side of all of them when it mattered most. The “what ifs” from this series will linger in the city for years to come.

Luke Bennett avatar
Luke Bennett