TL;DR
- * Isiah Kiner-Falefa's small lead and stationary position on third base cost the Blue Jays a potential walk-off run.
- * His 7.8 ft primary lead and 8.9 ft secondary lead were among the lowest in the World Series.
- * Despite good sprint speed, Kiner-Falefa's lack of a proper lead prevented him from scoring at home plate.
- * This missed opportunity, coupled with other factors, ultimately cost the Toronto Blue Jays a championship.
In a game of inches, Isiah Kiner-Falefa didn't give himself enough of a chance.
The Toronto Blue Jays had the bases loaded with one out, and IKF represented the potential walk-off run on third base.
And for whatever reason, Kiner-Falefa got almost no lead at all.
He was thrown at home plate by Miguel Rojas on a ground ball, out by just a fraction of a second, out by an amount that would've changed if Kiner-Falefa's secondary lead was further off the bag.
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Here's a look where you can see IKF on third essentially stay stationary as the pitcher delivers home, rather than starting to move even a little bit further off the base. He also could've run through home plate and potentially gotten there just a bit faster.
IKF's small lead and a lack of a secondary was the difference for Toronto not winning a title. Pic.twitter.com/LobrbNSCJa
— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) November 2, 2025
The Athletic's Chris Kirschner then provided these three stats about IKF's lead:
- "His 7.8 ft primary lead ranked 357/381 out of all primary leads in the World Series."
- "His 8.9 ft secondary lead ranked 366/376 out of all secondary leads in the WS."
- "His 28.2 ft/s sprint speed ranked 61/689 out of all sprint speeds in the WS."
Kiner-Falefa was fast enough to get there. He just hadn't set himself up for success.
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This all would've been a moot point if the next batter Ernie Clement's deep fly to left wasn't caught by a leaping Andy Pages as he ran through his fellow outfielder.
It also wouldn't have mattered if the Blue Jays had cashed in on a couple of other chances.
But this one hurts. There's no reason Kiner-Falefa's lead should've been that short. And it cost the Blue Jays a championship.
Additional World Series updates:
- Andy Pages made the catch of his life to preserve the World Series
- Bo Bichette confesses he considered departing Toronto following the World Series.
- Yoshinobu Yamamoto with insane Game 6, 7 history
- Will Smith's unlikely World Series streak continues for his namesake
- Ernie Clement with the most prolific hitting postseason ever
- World Series Game 7 reminds us why we love sports