{"id":5585,"date":"2025-11-02T17:14:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T20:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2025\/11\/02\/blue-jays-lose-heartbreaker-in-game-7-of-world-series-as-dodgers-complete-epic-comeback\/"},"modified":"2025-11-02T17:14:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T20:14:20","slug":"blue-jays-lose-heartbreaker-in-game-7-of-world-series-as-dodgers-complete-epic-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2025\/11\/02\/blue-jays-lose-heartbreaker-in-game-7-of-world-series-as-dodgers-complete-epic-comeback\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays lose heartbreaker in Game 7 of World Series as Dodgers complete epic comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>  In the end, the comeback team just couldn\u2019t muster one more.  The Toronto Blue Jays lost Game 7 of the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4 in 11 innings on Saturday in Toronto, marking the Dodgers\u2019 second straight championship.In the other dugout, the Blue Jays were vying for their first title in 32 years. But it wasn\u2019t to be, as Will Smith\u2019s 11th-inning home run to left field ultimately proved to be the difference.During the regular season, the Blue Jays led MLB with 49 comeback wins \u2014 a stat they wore as a badge of honour, a statement of their never-say-die attitude.And so even when their 3-0 lead had evaporated into a 5-4 deficit in the 11th, they could plausibly still employ the classic line: got \u2018em right where we want \u2018em.Instead, the Blue Jays let their final opportunity slip through their fingers.\u201cWe had our chances. We had our chances to beat them soundly. But we didn\u2019t. And that\u2019s baseball,\u201d Blue Jays manager John Schneider said, fighting back tears while he battled through his post-game press conference.WATCH | Jays players on the Game 7 loss:Jays\u2019 players react to World Series Game 7 lossThe Blue Jays fell 5-4 to the Los Angeles Dodgers during extra innings in Game 7 of the World Series. Here\u2019s what was on some players\u2019 minds following the loss.  The Blue Jays were two outs from glory in the ninth inning when the Dodgers\u2019 No. 9 hitter Miguel Rojas hit one of the most shocking home runs in baseball history, tying the game at four against Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman.\u201cIt\u2019s supposed to end differently,\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cI cost everybody in here a World Series ring.\u201dWith the damage limited there, the Blue Jays loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth, only for a groundout and deep flyout to prevent the winning run from scoring.The Jays escaped a bases-loaded jam in the 10th, but went down quietly in their half.Then, the Smith homer.What did the Toronto Blue Jays\u2019 World Series run mean to you? How did you bounce back after defeat? Leave your comment here and we may read it or call you back for today\u2019s showOnce again, in the 11th inning, the Blue Jays had their chances \u2014 even against Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who pitched one day after tossing six strong innings in Game 6. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led off with a double, and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. Addison Barger walked, putting the winning run on base.But Alejandro Kirk hit a ground ball to shortstop Mookie Betts. It had the looks of a tailor-made double play \u2014 and, indeed, it was.Rogers Centre fell silent. Blue Jays\u2019 heads sunk. What had felt like a dream season was now ending in the most painful way possible \u2014 a Game 7 loss in the World Series on their home field.\u201cThat hurts,\u201d an usher said moments after the final out.Indeed.Yamamoto, who earned three wins during the series, was named World Series MVP.\u201cIt\u2019s unheard of. There\u2019s a mind component, there\u2019s a delivery, which is a flawless delivery, and there\u2019s an unwavering will. I just haven\u2019t seen it. I really haven\u2019t,\u201d Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Yamamoto\u2019s performance for the ages.The Blue Jays enjoyed such a smooth-sailing regular season that Schneider didn\u2019t once call a team meeting \u2014 a move typically saved for a team in peril, on the brink of disaster.His first came in the embers of the Game 7 loss.\u201cI said, \u2018Thank you.\u2019 I said \u2018thank you\u2019 probably about 10 times. I said, \u2018I\u2019m sorry that we\u2019re feeling this way right now.\u2019 It definitely could have been the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of emotions,\u201d Schneider said.\u201cThis is a group that I\u2019m never going to forget. They\u2019re going to have a place in my heart, every single one of \u2019em. So that was the gist of it.\u201dHeading into this World Series, some billed it as David vs. Goliath \u2014 the Dodgers being the monolith with the league-high payroll and stars dotted across their roster.Roberts credited his team for coming through against a difficult Blue Jays side.\u201cI could just go on and on about the big plays, the big performances, and it\u2019s one of the greatest games I\u2019ve ever been a part of, and this whole series and what the Blue Jays did and they gave us everything they had,\u201d he said.Scheider said he never saw the series as a mismatch.\u201cWe played our game, and our game is one of the best in baseball. David vs. Goliath? It\u2019s not even f\u2013king close,\u201d he said.By the thinnest of margins, their game wasn\u2019t good enough.Bo Bichette, clearly bothered by a knee injury, put the Blue Jays ahead 3-0 with a blast to deep centre field in the third inning, sparking Rogers Centre into a frenzy.WATCH | Fan view of Bichette\u2019s homer:POV: When Bo Bichette hit that 3-run homerToronto Blue Jays second baseman Bo Bichette hit a three-run homer off the Los Angeles Dodgers\u2019 Shohei Otani in the third inning of Game 7 of the World Series.For a while, it seemed he had authored his own Kirk Gibson moment. An inning earlier, he might have cost the team a run due to his lack of speed on the bases resulting from the injury. Now, he was making up for it all and then some.\u201cWhat he did this year is nothing short of amazing. What he did to get back is nothing short of amazing. He\u2019s playing on one leg. So in the moment, it felt right,\u201d Schneider said.Slowly, though, the Dodgers clawed back.Sacrifice flies in the fourth and sixth innings pulled them within one, but the Blue Jays got one back in the bottom of the sixth, when Ernie Clement\u2019s MLB-record 30th hit of this post-season came around to score on another double off the bat of Andr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez.But Max Muncy hit a home run in the eighth inning off Trey Yesavage, the rookie phenom who had been so stellar for the Blue Jays all post-season.Then, Rojas stunned everyone in the ninth. He hit seven homers all season, and had just three prior hits in these playoffs.Here, he played the role of unlikely hero, blasting a ball to right field off Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman. There always seems to be one.For the Blue Jays, it could have been Clement. He personified this Blue Jays team \u2014 the guy who came out of nowhere to set records, possibly win awards and produce big moments time and time again.He seemed to feel the weight of that after the game.\u201cI\u2019ve been crying for an hour. I thought I was done with the tears. I just love these guys so much. It was so fun coming to work every day,\u201d he said.So many little moments conspired to turn the game in the away team\u2019s favour \u2014Bichette\u2019s inability to score early. Isiah Kiner-Falefa being thrown out at home in the ninth. Clement\u2019s fly ball one play later under which two Dodgers nearly collided, only to record the out.The Blue Jays had their moments \u2014 Daulton Varsho and Guerrero Jr. each made incredible defensive plays to escape jams.There was the Bichette homer, too, which Guerrero Jr. said he might have enjoyed more than Bichette himself.\u201cI wish we could have won it together,\u201d Bichette said. \u201cI wish we could have shared it together.\u201dThey were two outs away.\u201cAt the end of the day, players can become legends or they can be this close,\u201d Schneider said. \u201cWe were this close.\u201dIn the 11th inning, Schneider called upon Shane Bieber, the former Cy Young winner, who the team had acquired for exactly these moments.He got two quick outs. Then, Smith struck.\u201cWe win and we lose together. That\u2019s why we were such a great team all year,\u201d Bichette said.The Blue Jays lived as a team all season. Now, they\u2019ll die as one, too.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the end, the comeback team just couldn\u2019t muster one more. The Toronto Blue Jays lost Game 7 of the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4 in 11 innings on Saturday in Toronto, marking the Dodgers\u2019 second straight championship.In the other dugout, the Blue Jays were vying for their first title in 32 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118,123,1],"tags":[116,122],"class_list":["post-5585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-indigenous","category-saskatchewan","category-uncategorized","tag-indigenous","tag-saskatchewan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}