What unfolded in the ninth inning of Game 6 at Rogers Centre wasn’t just dramatic—it was bizarre, controversial, and ultimately heartbreaking for the Blue Jays. A ball lodged in the wall changed everything, and the Dodgers escaped with a 3-1 victory to force Game 7. Now, the veteran Isiah Kiner-Falefa didn’t hold back his frustration about the call that shifted the game’s outcome.

Down two in the ninth, Addison Barger crushed a fastball from Roki Sasaki into left-center. Myles Straw, a pinch runner, ran home, and Barger followed. But when the ball got stuck between the padded wall and the warning track, outfielders claimed it was dead. Umpire John Tumpane called a ground-rule double, which meant the run didn’t count.

Now Kiner-Falefa has spoken out, and he wasn’t buying the call. “It wasn’t lodged in the wall,” Kiner-Falefa said. “I saw it. He got lucky they called it his way. You think of a tennis ball being stuck in a fence. It doesn’t move. It just sits there. That’s not what happened here. That ball was moving. Really, he got the call. But I don’t know if he deserved it.”

His frustration reflects what many Blue Jays players and fans felt in that moment.

According to MLB Rule 5.05(a)(7), a ball is considered lodged when its natural flight is stopped unnaturally, becoming stuck in a fence or wall padding. When this happens, it’s an automatic ground-rule double, and the ball is dead. Runners get two bases from where they were at the time of the pitch. The critical part?

The fielder’s ability to retrieve the ball doesn’t determine whether it’s lodged. That judgment call belongs entirely to the umpire. And in this case, the umpires sided with the Dodgers.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider also shared his POV on what happened.

“Been here a long time. I haven’t seen a ball get lodged ever,” he said. “Just caught a tough break there. He put a really good swing on that pitch and ultimately ended up second and third with nobody out with guys that make contact and just didn’t get it done.” It’s the kind of play that happens once in a career, or maybe even less.

As emotions run high and momentum shifts back to Los Angeles, Toronto needs to regroup quickly. No matter what the call was, it guaranteed that the 2025 World Series would close with the kind of suspense that only baseball can create.

From line-up to bullpen: How Toronto aims to seal the ring

The Toronto Blue Jays have a clear plan for Game 7. They want to capture the crown they’ve been waiting 32 years for. They have their lineup, pitchers, and everything else ready to go.

George Springer is back as DH, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leads the middle, and Bo Bichette, Addison Barger, and Alejandro Kirk add depth through the heart of the order. The Blue Jays are relying on calm over fear by putting together a lineup of veterans.

For the pitching plan, they are looking towards Max Scherzer. Toronto is expecting him to attack early, keep the Dodgers’ bats off balance, and protect the bullpen for later innings when the stakes are highest. 

The bullpen in Toronto will play a crucial role, too.

They have to manage their relievers carefully, paying close attention to right/left matchups, limiting walks, and avoiding baserunners at all costs. The Blue Jays know that one misstep at the end might ruin everything they’ve worked for.

It’s clear the Blue Jays want to convey excitement and urgency from the dugout to the field. After the disputed “dead ball” call in Game 6 that stopped their momentum, they’re seeing Game 7 as a chance to make up for it. They need to stick to the basics, clean up their base-running, stay sharp on defense, and use the energy of the home crowd to channel it into execution instead of pandemonium.