The Blue Jays will be thinking about how close they came to winning the 2025 World Series for years. In one of the best series we’ve ever seen, Toronto came up short, losing to the Dodgers in seven bruising games. Despite L.A.’s victory, much of the discussion after the game has focused on the Blue Jays’ blunders.
Toronto had issues running the bases all series, but three massive mistakes led directly to the team’s downfall. Here’s a look at how they happened and how each could have changed the outcome of the series.
Game 3: Schneider thrown out by a mile
In the epic, 18-inning Game 3 battle we’ll be talking about for years, the Blue Jays had several chances to take a lead in extra innings. Unfortunately, they could never push a run across. Some of that was due to John Schneider’s over-managing, but one instance was simply a bad decision on the bases.
In the top of the 10th inning with two outs and the game tied 5-5, Ty France singled to left and was replaced on the bases by Davis Schneider. Nathan Lukes stepped to the place to face Emmet Sheehan and laced the first pitch he saw down the right field line and into the corner. Schneider was off at the crack of the bat, and third base coach Carlos Febles opted to send him home. It was a horrid decision. Dodgers right fielder Teoscar Hernández has a great arm, as does his relay partner Tommy Edman. Schenider was out by a mile attempting to score.
TEXTBOOK RELAY
— MLB (@MLB) October 28, 2025
THE DODGERS KEEP THE GAME TIED HEADED TO THE BOTTOM HALF! #WORLDSERIES pic.twitter.com/wz4bhVRzbx
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was on deck and would have stepped into the box with runners on second and third and two outs. The Dodgers likely would have walked him to face Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who had pinch-run for Bo Bichette earlier. Still, Toronto would have had a better chance with Kiner-Falefa attempting to get a hit off Sheehan than Schneider running on Hernández and Edman.
Game 6: Barger doubled off second base to lose the game
In Friday night’s matchup in Toronto, the Blue Jays fell 3-1 but had a golden opportunity to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. Roki Sasaki opened the frame by hitting Alejandro Kirk. Then Addison Barger hit a ground-rule double that got stuck under the fence. That likely cost them a run, but created second and third with no outs.
DON'T COUNT OUT THE @BLUEJAYS!
— MLB (@MLB) November 1, 2025
Two runners in scoring position with no outs in the 9th 👀 #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/e5G6JRyN8M
They had three outs to get those runners home and failed to do so.
Tyler Glasnow entered the game for the Dodgers, and Ernie Clement opted to swing at the first pitch he saw, popping out harmlessly to Freddie Freeman at first base. Andrés Giménez then looped a 1-0 pitch into shallow left field, but it hung up just enough for Kike Hernández to sprint in and make a running catch. Barger misread the ball and took off for third base before realizing it wasn’t going to drop. Hernández caught it, fired the ball to second and doubled off Barger, ending the game.
KIKÉ, DO YOU LOVE ME?#WORLDSERIES pic.twitter.com/WQx5nFbdXa
— MLB (@MLB) November 1, 2025
Had Barger held at second, George Springer would have come to the plate with two outs needing only a single to tie the game. Springer was 2-for-4 with an RBI on the night and is arguably Toronto’s second-best hitter. Instead, Barger’s blunder ended the game.
Game 7: Kiner-Falefa’s short lead burns him
In the bottom of the ninth, after the Dodgers tied the game at 4-4 on Miguel Rojas’s improbable solo home run, the Blue Jays had a chance to end it. With Blake Snell on the mound, Guerrero flew out to deep center before Bo Bichette singled to left. Kiner-Falefa pinch ran for him, then Barger walked after a nine-pitch at-bat. L.A. pulled Snell and brought in Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who hit Kirk with his second pitch to load the bases. That’s when things got interesting.
On a 1-2 pitch, Daulton Varsho grounded the ball to Rojas at second. He stumbled making the play, but was able to throw a strike home to catcher Will Smith to barely beat Kiner-Falefa coming home. On replay, it was close as to whether Smith kept his foot on home plate, but the play was upheld after a review.
MIGUEL ROJAS GETS HIM AT THE PLATE pic.twitter.com/lAW2GEcdDh
— MLB (@MLB) November 2, 2025
Observers noticed that Kiner-Falefa took almost no lead off third base, and didn’t get much of a secondary lead after Yamamoto began to move towards home plate. He had plenty of room, as Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy was playing off the line. Visual evidence is below.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa, IKF, is getting the initial blame for the Blue Jays World Series loss… he has NO SECONDARY LEAD off 3rd here, Rojas makes a tough play and throws him out by an inch to save the game… standard baserunning mechanics and the Jays are World Series champs pic.twitter.com/EW6BdCvOEk
— John Frascella (Football) (@NFLFrascella) November 2, 2025
If Kiner-Falefa had taken another step or two off the base, he almost certainly would have scored, as Rojas’s throw home only beat him by inches. That would have ended the game and the series. Instead, he was out, and it was a massive missed opportunity.
With two outs and the bases still loaded, Clement flied out to the warning track, where Andy Pages made an outstanding catch to end the inning.
OH MY GOODNESS WE ARE GOING TO EXTRAS pic.twitter.com/r3I9Swj4gg
— MLB (@MLB) November 2, 2025
The game moved to extra innings, where the Dodgers would win it thanks to an 11th-inning Will Smith home run and Yamamoto’s heroic pitching performance.
The Blue Jays had repeated chances to win the series, but in the moments that mattered the most, they came up short. That was the difference.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Three Baserunning Blunders That Cost Blue Jays a World Series Title.
