Anxiety was high due to Toronto Blue Jays fans on Saturday night and bye World Series The result wasn't what they wanted, with many saying the road to Game 7 was “amazing.”
“Everybody comes together. Nobody knows each other here and you still come together, watch the team, we all want them to win and it feels like we are winning,” said Haspreet Singh-Huda, who was downtown to watch the game. “Kudos to the players who brought us here. It's amazing.”
The Blue Jays battled hard in the final game on Saturday, starting with a 3-0 lead after Bo Bichette's grand slam home run in the third inning.
The Los Angeles Dodgers cut the lead to 3–2 with runs in the fourth and sixth innings, but the Jays then responded with another run in the sixth to put the Jays up 4–2.
Heading into the ninth and final inning, the Dodgers cut the Jays' lead once again, bringing the score to 4–3. Miguel Rojas' home run tied the game.
After two extra innings and a home run by the Dodgers' Will Smith, the Dodgers clinched their second straight title and stunned Blue Jays fans.
“Complete shock,” said Omar Bhatti. “There's complete madness pouring out of the doors of the Rogers Center right now. The whole town, we've been waiting for something to happen. I think we really deserve it. The guys did everything they could, we played the best we could, you know, we really deserve something.”
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said he thought his team played great, but with both teams having a chance to win at the end, “I feel for the guys.”
“I’m so proud of them, the whole organization,” Schneider said. “We set new expectations and a new standard here, and we did it by doing a lot of hard work, doing it with a lot of unity.”
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He told reporters that if he was asked about the 2025 Blue Jays in a few years, he would remember each player, and added that he thought fans would feel the same.
Schneider said he also held his first team meeting after the game and probably told the team “thank you about 10 times.”
But the team manager said while feelings surrounding the game will be difficult for a few days and weeks, he believes they can move on.
“The beauty of baseball is that it goes on,” he said.
He added that Bichette's home run in Game 3 was “on par” with George Springer's home run during the American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners.
When asked about the home run, Bichette told reporters he was just doing his job.
“I mean, I was just trying to do my job and help the team win,” he said. “I'm going to hit a home run, but the game wasn't over at that point.”
When asked if the Game 7 loss made him want to stay in Toronto again the following year, Bichette responded that he wanted “to be here from the beginning.” He also thanked the fans for giving the team the “extra boost” it needed.
Ernie Clement, who scored the Jays' fourth run of the night, said he felt a lot of “gratefulness” to be a part of the team and the playoffs.
“This is exactly what I always dreamed of,” he said. “Playing in the big leagues, playing in the playoffs, playing in the World Series, winning the World Series. So I'm just really grateful for the opportunity to be here, to be part of such an amazing group of guys. And there's a lot to be proud of, so I guess it's not all sad.”
It was an emotional time for Chris Bassitt as he spoke to reporters after the game, praising his fellow players and adding that he hopes he gets another chance to play for the Jays next season.
“I think it’s hard to replicate true love,” Bassitt said. “You can try to replicate it, a lot of people will try, but for the most part it's impossible. This band is just really very special and, man, the ending obviously just sucks.”
That sentiment about this team was shared by fans outside the Rogers Center and throughout Toronto.
Daniel Manukyan told Global News that the team was “born to win.”
“It's heartache, nothing less than heartache, you know. We were so close to fame and we got robbed,” Manukyan said. “We were born to win, but somehow the baseball gods had something else in mind.”
He said he's confident the Jays will come back and win in 2026, but said he's also excited about how hosting the World Series has created such a sense of community. “We were happy, we wanted to feel such happiness and jubilation, we wanted to be in a state of euphoria.”
The feeling was “electrifying” for Selena Romero, who told Global News she wasn't the biggest baseball fan before the performance.
“I think the crowd was electric,” she said once inside the Rogers Center. “Everyone was there, we lost a little bit, but the Jays have had an incredible whole season.”
She said she felt like she was going to “throw up” in the ninth inning, adding: “We didn't come out on top, but we did the best we could and I can't wait to see what this team continues to do.”
—with files from Global News' Megan King
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
