After a difficult Game 7 loss in the World Series on Saturday night, Toronto Blue Jays infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa explained a potentially costly baserunning decision.

The situation

The game was tied 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Jays had the bases loaded for Daulton Varsho. Kiner-Falefa was on third base with one out.

Varsho hit a hard ground ball to second baseman Miguel Rojas, who stumbled backwards before firing home for the force out at home. Smith briefly pulled his foot off the plate, but was able to get it back in front of a sliding Kiner-Falefa. The Blue Jays challenged the play but the call was upheld.

Ernie Clement then flew out to left field as Andy Pages made an incredible play to end the scoring threat.

The question for Kiner-Falefa

Some people questioned on social media why Kiner-Falefa didn't have a bigger secondary lead, which would have given him another step or two toward the plate. Take this post from Jake Mintz of Yahoo! Sports, who noticed that IKF could have been at least as far from the bag as Max Muncy was.

The fallout

In addition to being thrown out at the plate, Kiner-Falefa opened his phone after the game to a threat of someone saying they would break his legs for the inability to score. That was relayed by Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.

Devastated Blue Jays support one another in defeat: 'One awesome ride' Within the Blue Jays’ clubhouse early Sunday morning, the players who had come so close to winning a championship tried to make sense of what had happened.  This was not the ending the team envisioned.

The rationale

Kiner-Falefa explained after the game that he didn't have a big secondary lead because he was instructed not to. The Blue Jays didn't want him to get doubled off third base, or back-picked by catcher Will Smith.

“They told us to stay close to the base,” Kiner-Falefa said. “They don’t want us to get doubled off in that situation with a hard line drive. (Daulton) Varsho hits the ball really, really hard. (Max Muncy’s) right there, I’m waiting for a backpick from Will Smith in that situation. I can’t get doubled off right there so it’s almost like bases loaded. They wanted a smaller lead and a smaller secondary, so that’s what I did.”

And after Friday night's crushing loss in Game 6, in which Addison Barger was doubled off to end the game at second base, you can understand why the Jays were more protective of their spot on the bases.

Regardless, Toronto had several chances to blow the game open, and they had several chances to hold leads, and they weren't able to do it. One play will get magnified, but as always, a game is a collection of moments, and not just one.

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