I Cost the Blue Jays a Ring, Hoffman Reflects After Defeat

Jeff Hoffman knows that all too well, and the Toronto Blue Jays' ninth-inning man was devastated after losing Game 7 to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.

 Hoffman came into the game with the Jays up by one run and just four outs away from victory. He got the first two outs, one at the end of the eighth inning and a strikeout to start the ninth, before everything unraveled.

 Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas shocked everyone by sending a 3-and-2 pitch from Hoffman out of the park to tie the game, and just like that, the momentum shifted.

The Dodgers' celebration began after they won the game and became World Champions, but the scene was starkly different in the Blue Jays' eerily quiet locker room when the media was allowed in.

 Ernie Clement, who had set a record for playoff hits, was still in his uniform during his media session when tears welled up in his eyes. He said he had been crying for a while. Others were also crying, and Hoffman was clearly distraught about his role in the loss, even though Toronto had several opportunities to win the game before and after that fateful hit.

 “It sucks. It should have ended differently,” said Hoffman, who was signed by the Blue Jays from the Philadelphia Phillies last winter. “Just one pitch and, yeah, yeah… I mean, I took a World Series ring away from everyone in here. So it feels pretty bad,” Hoffman said.

 “Just had to execute better in that moment and not let that happen.”

Hoffman's teammates rushed to his defense, knowing he had helped them win many times throughout the year.

 “I love Jeff. He’s been fantastic all year. I’d put him back out there again,” George Springer said. “I feel bad for everyone here, we worked so hard,” Clement said.

 “We’ve been through so much all year. I’d go to war with Jeff Hoffman every day. I want him on the mound. I want (Shane Bieber, who gave up the game-winning home run in the 11th inning) on ​​the mound. These are the guys I’d take a bullet for, and 99 times out of 100, these guys get the job done,” Clement said.

 “Obviously, tonight wasn’t our night.” No, it wasn’t. And while Hoffman was told that the other Jays were there for him, it didn’t offer much solace, at least not yet.

 “Well, I mean, we were two outs away from the World Series and I was the one on the mound,” Hoffman said.

 Two outs away. So close, and yet so far.