Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperMatt18
It has to be - it really sucks how close they were and how much they were the better team.
Game 6: 1 for 9 with RISP
Bottom 8: 1 and 2nd 1 out - no runs
Bottom 9: 2nd and 3rd 0 outs - no runs
Game 7: 3 / 17 with RISP
Bottom 4: 1st and 2nd 1 out - Lukes / Vladdy can't generate a run
Bottom 6: Only getting one run with Gimenez on 2nd and no outs. Springer / Lukes / Vladdy cash in Gimenez.
Bottom 8: Lead off double for Clement. Gimenez, Springer, and Schneider can't even advance him.
Bottom 9: Bases loaded, 1 out. No runs
Bottom 11: Lead off double for Vlad, sac bunt, Kirk hits into DP.
So many chances to end the series and just couldn't find that killer play to end it. The bottom of the 9 is just an absolute killer. Feel so bad for all these guys because they deserved to win, they were the better team.
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I agree with you that the Jays were better than the Dodgers at a lot of things, but what the Dodgers had that the Jays did not was experience. From their manager to the players that made impact plays at the end, they all had much more experience in those moments. They did not make the same errors on the basepaths, their manager played the right cards when it came to knowing when and when not to make tactical substitutions and they were able to hit in clutch situations where the Jays did not. The moment was too bright for various Jays players and their manager in many moments in game 6 and game 7. If you look at both dugouts in the late innings the Jays looked like a bundle of nerves starting with their manager and the Dodgers was calm and stoic. It was incredibly stressful to watch, I can only imagine as the manager, but do we think Dave Roberts instructs IKF to stay tight to 3rd with a lefty pull hitter at the plate? The jays needed the manager to be thinking and not freaking out in that moment. It was not IKF's fault in that situation but a lack of managerial experience. JS should have been screaming at IKF to get a bigger lead but I am afraid he was lost in the moment given he had never been in that moment before as manager.
We can play the hindsight game all we want but I really think this loss came down to lack of world series/playoff experience. We just have to hope this incredibly hard lesson will see them get over the hump in the future.