TORONTO — Third baseman Ernie Clement's eyes filled with tears as he spoke to reporters at one end of the clubhouse while tears streamed down the left side of pitcher Max Scherzer's face on the other side of the room. Meanwhile, closer Jeff Hoffman's voice wavered and cracked as he accepted blame for the Toronto Blue Jays' devastating extra-innings loss in Game 7 of Saturday's World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The team's emotions after the game were raw and unfiltered.
“It sucks,” Hoffman said after the 5-4 loss. “It was supposed to end differently. It was just one pitch. I cost everyone here a World Series ring. It feels pretty s–t.”
Hoffman was two outs away from making the save, which would have caused an entire country to celebrate. Instead, Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas took him deep with a 3-2 slider, tying the score. Two innings later, Dodgers catcher Will Smith did the same to starter-turned-reliever Shane Bieber, giving the Dodgers their first lead of the night and the final margin of victory.
“I hit a slider on a big guy who hits them well,” Bieber said. “He was looking for it. I didn't execute it. This one hurts. It's going to hurt for a while. This game is not for the faint of heart.”
Scherzer said Saturday's loss was even more heartbreaking because of the camaraderie within the team.
“I'm 41 years old and I never thought I could love baseball so much,” Scherzer said as he wiped away tears. “My love for the game was so strong because of their love for the game.
“That loss is very hard because you are very close to everyone. This team had that closeness, had that camaraderie. We had that passion not only for the game but also for each other.”
Scherzer, 41, pitched 4⅓ innings in Game 7, allowing just one run on four hits before leaving to a standing ovation. He swore he hadn't thrown his last major league pitch, but said he wasn't in the right frame of mind to expand on his future plans.
Scherzer emerged from the game with a 3-1 lead, thanks to a three-run homer by Bo Bichette in the third. Like Scherzer, Bichette is a free agent but then maintained his desire to stay in Toronto.
“I want to be here, but I just lost Game 7,” Bichette said, dismissing any questions about his future. “I hit that home run, but the game wasn't over at that point.”
The Blue Jays maintained their lead until the ninth, when Hoffman gave it up to Rojas. The crowd was silent, waiting for a winning play at the end of the inning. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s hit to center field gave them a moment of hope, but even the Blue Jays star knew it wasn't going to go away.
“People who know me know that I stand at home plate and watch them come out,” Guerrero said through the team's interpreter. “I knew I wasn't going anywhere.”
Once everything was finished, Guerrero went to each locker to deliver a message to his teammates.
“I told them how proud they were of the work they did,” he said. “I couldn't be more proud of my teammates and all the things we accomplished this year.”
It was the same message coach John Schneider delivered in what he described as his first team meeting all season. It came after his toughest defeat.
“I said thank you,” Schneider said. “I said thank you probably 10 times. And that was the main message.”
Perhaps the most emotional was Clemente. He set a record for most hits in a single postseason with 30, although one more, in the ninth inning with the bases loaded, would have won the series. Instead, Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages stole it off the wall.
Clement said he spent an hour after the game crying and hugging his teammates.
“We gave everything we had,” Clement said. “When you come up short but can say you left it all out there, there's something to be proud of.
“I'd go to war with Jeff Hoffman every day of the week. I want him on the mound. I want Bieber on the mound. Ninety-nine times out of 100 those guys get the job done. Obviously, it just wasn't our night.”
But it was his season, at least until the end. After finishing in last place in 2024, the Blue Jays won the American League East and reached Game 7 of the World Series. Although it wasn't the desired ending, Blue Jays players said the trip was meaningful.
“Everyone here is pretty devastated,” pitcher Kevin Gausman said. “We're a really good team. It took them playing perfect and having a great last couple of innings to beat us and that's what happened.”
Bieber said, “This group is unlike any other I've ever been a part of. That's a feeling we all feel personally.”
