‘Absolutely heartbroken for the Blue Jays’: U.S. media react to Toronto Blue Jays World Series loss

Blue Jays manager John Schneider spoke to reporters about how special his team was and how he feels for the players after the loss.

The Toronto Blue Jays fell short of their World Series dream in a nail-biting finale with the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Rogers Centre Saturday night, despite a remarkable season that saw them pull off countless underdog wins.

The Jays led for much of the game, but with two outs to go, Miguel Rojas hit a home run in the ninth inning to tie up the score 4-4. Dodgers catcher Will Smith then hit a solo home run in the top of the 11th to take a 5-4 lead over Toronto and the Jays couldn’t catch up.

Despite the loss, the game was hailed as one of the best finales ever played in baseball.

Here’s how U.S. media are reacting the game.

Dodgers’ victory was ‘entirely unexpected’ by end of series

The top of the Los Angeles Times homepage read Sunday morning “In a World Series finale for the ages, Dodgers cement their dynasty in win over Blue Jays.”

L.A. Times writer Jack Harris wrote that the Dodgers’ “march toward destiny was completed a quarter past midnight” and said that while their victory was long dreamt of, it was “entirely unexpected at the same time.”

He called Game 7 of the series “one of the greatest games this sport has ever seen,” lauding the Dodgers’ “miraculous” ninth-inning comeback, when Miguel Rojas tied the game with a home-run.

“For ages, this game will be remembered. As long as baseball is played, a script like this will never be replicated,” Harris wrote.

Jays ‘showed guts, never gave up’

Alex Rodriguez of Fox Sports said while the loss is heartbreaking for the Jays, they nonetheless played an incredible game.

“It’s absolutely heartbroken for the Blue Jays,” Rodriguez said. “I mean, they had an incredible year from top to bottom, and they did it all in a beautiful, classic way.”

He said the Jays have “nothing at all” to put their heads down about.

“They pitched well, they defended well, they ran the bases, they showed guts, they never gave up.”

His colleague, David Ortiz, called the match-up between the Jays and the Dodgers “a World Series to remember.”

Perhaps the ‘greatest Game 7 ever played’

Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal wrote that “in the end, the Dodgers were exactly who we thought they were” and said the team almost had everyone convinced that “the most expensive collection of talent ever assembled was vulnerable.”

“They outlasted the relentlessly spirited Blue Jays in one of the most thrilling fall classics in recent memory,” Diamond wrote.

He said the finale “might have been the greatest Game 7 ever played.”

While the Dodgers sailed passed other teams, Diamond wrote, the Blue Jays were “unwilling to accept their role as bit part characters” in their show.

“They flummoxed the Dodgers’ pitching staff with their resilient, contact-first offensive attack that appeared to come out of another era.”

While the Jays lost, the journal said, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. affirmed his place “as one of MLB’s brightest stars” wile players like Ernie Clement and Addison Barger became household names.

“All that stood between the Blue Jays and immortality was one more win in front of a delirious fan base desperate to see this nation’s only franchise deliver a championship to Canada after 32 years,” Diamond wrote. “The Dodgers refused to yield, winning two in a row here at the Rogers Centre to dash the Blue Jays’ hopes.”

‘An unreal finale’

An all-star pitching match-up between Shohei Ohtani and Max Scherzer, as well as two-high-powered offensive teams didn’t fail to deliver an “unreal finale” that went to extra innings, CNN wrote.

“And, boy, did the win-or-go-home four-plus hour game live up to all the hype and then some!” wrote Jacob Lev.