Blue Jays did nearly everything right — but not enough to beat juggernaut Dodgers

TORONTO — The upstart, underdog Blue Jays gave it a nice try, eh?

They came within two outs of beating the best team money could buy and winning their first World Series in a generation. Rogers Centre was rocking, and their fans were poised to celebrate their first World Series championship since Joe Carter’s heroics more than a generation ago, in 1993.

Blue Jays fans were loving every minute of it, and came within two outs of a surprise title. That’s when light-hitting spare Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas slammed a one-out, ninth-inning home run, tying the score and changing everything. The Jays outplayed the Dodgers for most of this World Series, but ultimately, they couldn’t put them away.

Two innings after Rojas’ shocking blow, Will Smith sent a home run out to left field off Shane Bieber, giving the Dodgers their second straight World Series title and stamping them as a true dynasty with the 5-4, 11-inning victory. It was a classic game in a classic World Series that went to the limit. But that may not be much consolation to the game Blue Jays, who exceeded all expectations merely by making the playoffs, much less taking a $400M team to the absolute extra innings of a great Game 7.