Toronto sports enthusiasts are well-acquainted with the tension of Game 7 scenarios, having endured more than their fair share of heartbreaking outcomes in recent playoff history. Now, they’re bracing themselves for another nail-biting showdown.
After a promising performance on the road, winning two out of three games in California, Toronto Blue Jays fans filled the Rogers Centre with hopes of witnessing their team secure its first championship in over three decades.
However, an otherwise commendable performance by Kevin Gausman was marred by one challenging inning, resulting in a 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The defeat was sealed with a critical double play when Toronto’s Addison Barger overextended his reach on the bases.
This sets the stage for a decisive Game 7—a scenario all too familiar to Toronto’s sports supporters, who have faced disappointment in similar situations several times in recent years.
Reaching this year’s World Series, the Blue Jays clinched a Game 7 victory in the American League Championship Series, a rare triumph for Toronto teams in such high-stakes games.
The last time a Toronto team prevailed in a Game 7 was when the NBA’s Raptors overcame the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2019 Eastern Conference semifinals, paving their way to a championship victory.
Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers have forced a Game 7 in the World Series
A base-running error by Addison Barger led to a game-ending double-play and a 3-1 LA win
Between the 2019 Game 7 win and the 2025 victory, Toronto teams lost five consecutive Game 7’s.
While the Raptors contributed to that in the form of a loss in the 2020 Eastern Conference semifinals, the true kings of the Game 7 loss are the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs.
Since that aforementioned Raptors win, the Leafs lost Game 7’s in 2021 to the Montreal Canadiens, in 2022 to the Tampa Bay Lightning, in 2024 to the Boston Bruins (who beat the Leafs in 7 games in 2013, 2018, and 2019), and this past season to the eventual Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers.
Baseball has been absent of a World Series Game 7 for quite some time. The last one came in 2019, when the Washington Nationals knocked off the Houston Astros to win the franchise’s first ever title.
The last team to win a home Game 7 was the St. Louis Cardinals, who upset the Texas Rangers in 2011 during one of the greatest World Series ever played.
Since then, all four World Series Game 7’s have been won by road teams: the San Francisco Giants in 2014 (beating the Kansas City Royals), the Chicago Cubs in 2016 (beating the then-named Cleveland Indians), the Astros in 2017 (beating the Dodgers), and the 2019 Nationals.
Kevin Gausman started off strong, but gave up three runs which led to a defeat
Relief pitcher Justin Wrobleski celebrates after getting out of the seventh inning
Gausman, Toronto’s starter, got off to a blistering start by striking out six of the first nine batters he faced across two-and-a-third innings.
However, that third inning led to disaster as Will Smith scored Tommy Edman on a double.
The damage was compounded when Mookie Betts, who had been mostly silenced this World Series, hit a double to score Ohtani and Smith to make the game 3-0.
Toronto’s sole run came in the bottom of the third. George Springer, the ALCS hero who missed games in the World Series due to injury, knocked through a single that scored Addison Barger.
The game plodded along, with Los Angeles ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto striking out six batters. While he gave up five hits, he only surrendered the one earned run.
When the Blue Jays last won the World Series, it came in Game 6 in 1993. Down two runs going into the bottom of the ninth inning, up stepped Joe Carter who swung for the fences and watched the ball sail over the left field wall for a three-run home run to confirm that the Commissioner’s Trophy would be staying in Canada.
So trailing by two runs going into the bottom of the ninth of Game 6 of the 2025 World Series, the stage was set once again.
Catcher Alejandro Kirk reached first base on a hit-by-pitch before Barger’s batted ball was controversially called a wedged ground-rule double to put runners on second and third. The chance for another game-sealing three-run blast was at Toronto’s feet.
With Toronto hoping for at least a game-tying hit, Barger got greedy and was thrown out
Third baseman Ernie Clement swung and popped out at the very first pitch he saw from LA’s Tyler Glasnow, who was in line to start tomorrow night.
With one out, up stepped Andres Gimenez – who was 0-for-4 on Friday night and has batted 3-for-23 (.130) this World Series.
On a 1-0 pitch, Gimenez swung and flared the ball into shallow left field. Anticipating the drop of the ball, Barger began running without tagging second base.
Instead, outfielder Enrique ‘Kiké’ Hernandez made the catch and then fired the ball over to second baseman Miguel Rojas for the force out to end the game on a bang-bang play.
The Rogers Centre fell into stunned silence. The Blue Jays’ hopes of overturning the call on review were hopeless.
Now, they must figure out a way to dust themselves off and go again. If they can’t do that, it’d be the worst Game 7 loss of them all.
