Out of all the moments where the Toronto Blue Jays could’ve won the World Series, one play seems to stand above the rest of them, and it’s seared into fans’ brains.

In the ninth inning of Game 7, Isiah Kiner-Falefa came within inches of scoring a championship-clinching run, sliding into home plate with the chance to give the Blue Jays a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth and two runners on base, Daulton Varsho cracked a ground ball to the infield that had a shot at scoring the run from third.

But despite a fumble on the pickup of a ground ball from Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas, Kiner-Falefa was just a fraction of a step too short. Ernie Clement then flew out on a wild play to centre field with another chance for Toronto to win the game, which they eventually lost in 11 innings.

The biggest question that came out of many Blue Jays fans once they dissected it after the fact: why did Kiner-Falefa start his lead so close to third base, and why didn’t he take much of a secondary lead after each pitch?

Kiner-Falefa detailed some of the fallout after the game, saying that Jays fans had threatened him for not scoring the winning run.

“[The coaches] told us to stay close to the base. They don’t want us to get doubled off in that situation with a hard line drive. [Daulton] Varsho hits the ball really, really hard. [Max Muncy’s] right there,” Kiner-Falefa said. “I can’t get doubled off right there, so it’s almost like a bases loaded. They wanted a smaller lead and a smaller secondary, so that’s what I did.”

On a Deep Left Field podcast appearance with the Toronto Star‘s Mike Wilner, former Blue Jays bench coach Don Mattingly explained his point of view and said there was a detail the team may have overlooked with Kiner-Falefa at third base.

“The last thing you want is the guy to break on a line drive and get doubled up … So he’s probably doing the right thing,” Mattingly told Wilner. “The only variable that, if you look back at it, we could change a little bit and (Kiner-Falefa) would probably get more (of a lead) is Daulton (Varsho) doesn’t really line the ball to third base, or hit the ball on the left side of the field that much.”

Daulton Varsho’s 2025 spray chart on line drives (FanGraphs.com)

Mattingly also feels like there’s not been one scapegoat for the play, but rather it was a few different actors, himself included, who maybe could’ve ended up influencing history in Toronto’s favour.

“If you ask (Kiner-Falefa) now, he’d probably say: ‘Man, I could have gotten another step,’” said Mattingly. “[Third-base coach Carlos Febles] would say: ‘I probably should have pushed him down the line more.’ And I would say: Man, we probably should have noticed that. Everyone’s going to take accountability … and I honestly love that.”

With his contract expired, the former Dodgers and Miami Marlins manager Mattingly left his role with the Blue Jays shortly after the World Series to pursue other opportunities.

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