The heartbreak of the way the 2025 World Series finished is in the rearview mirror now for the Toronto Blue Jays. Spring Training is underway, and 2026 is the focus.
However, there are a few moments from that Game 7 that no Blue Jays fan will ever forget. The outrageous result of some plays are unfortunately etched in the minds of many. The play at the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning in which Isiah Kiner-Falefa—the potential winning run—was thrown out by mere inches, is chief among them.
Now safely away from the Jays media and fans—but still within the division—IKF spoke from Boston Red Sox camp, opening up for the first time about that controversial play.
Did IKF not take a big enough lead off third base?
The situation: Tie game, bases loaded, one out. The World Series is on the line. Ground ball to Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas. The throw comes home, and Kiner-Falefa is forced out—by inches.
The consensus is that had IKF taken a bigger lead off third, he would have beaten the throw home. The Jays & the entire country of Canada would still be celebrating a World Series championship to this day. Many also felt that a slide wasn’t even necessary. The thought was that if he simply kept running to step on home plate, he would have made it safely.
But how does Kiner-Falefa see it?
In speaking to the media about the play for the first time since that fateful day, IKF essentially put the blame on the Jays’ coaching:
If I could do it over, I definitely would have gotten a couple of steps out. But you have to do what the organization wants and that’s kind of been the thing there, with runners in that situation, they would always keep the runner close.
Kiner-Falefa received plenty of ‘hate online’ after failed play at the plate
As he explained to Jenn McCaffrey in The Athletic, IKF said he “received a slew of hate online in the days following”, and he regretted the fact that he didn’t get a chance to explain himself after the game.
“If it was going to be such a big deal, it would have been nice to have the camera in my face and have a chance to speak. But it blew up without me getting a proper interview, so I thought that was unfair.”
As for the whole sliding instead of running through home plate thing, he said that, with one out, he was just trying to break up a potential double-play.
“I was initially just thinking, break up that double play right there and get our best, hottest hitter up at the time. It almost paid off. Ernie (Clement) almost got the job done on the next one.” Of course, that also ended in heartbreak, when Andy Pages stole a near-certain game-winning extra-base hit from Clement with an insane catch, running over his own left fielder.
It’s all water under the bridge now for Kiner-Falefa. But having signed back in the AL East with the Red Sox, he and Jays’ fans will get plenty of opportunities to reintroduce themselves this season. And it all begins on April 27th, when Boston visits the Rogers Centre for a three-game set.
