It’s been over two weeks since the Toronto Blue Jays lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the pain and wounds are still raw.

The Blue Jays came about as close as humanly possible to winning it all without actually doing so, dropping Games 6 and 7 at home in heartbreaking fashion. The Game 7 defeat was particularly crushing, dooming Toronto players and fans to a long winter of agony and second-guessing.

While it’s tough to bounce back from such a devastating loss, Blue Jays backup catcher Tyler Heineman recently shared an encouraging message about the state of the team.

Blue Jays Left With Bitter Taste in Mouth

Toronto had all the momentum after winning Games 4 and 5 at Dodger Stadium, taking a 3-2 series lead back to Rogers Centre. All the Blue Jays had to do was win one of two games at home, where they had the second-best home record in baseball this year.

Unfortunately, Toronto couldn’t finish the job, losing Games 6 and 7 in gut-wrenching fashion.

In Game 6, the Blue Jays had runners on second and third with nobody out in the bottom of the ninth. All they needed was a single to tie the game, but they failed to score and lined into a game-ending double play.

Game 7 was even worse, as Toronto blew a 3-0 lead. The Blue Jays were two outs away from winning the game in the top of the ninth, only for Jeff Hoffman to surrender a game-tying home run to the Dodgers’ No. 9 hitter, Miguel Rojas.

Toronto had multiple chances to win the game after that, loading the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth and putting runners on the corners with one out in the 11th. The Blue Jays didn’t score either time, however, failing to come up with the big hit.

“We all kind of have a sour taste in our mouth…We were so close to getting what we wanted and what we thought we should’ve gotten,” Heineman said in video posted by Blue Jays Today that was gathered by SIA Sport on X (formerly Twitter). “And then to not achieve that is heartbreaking and something that just doesn’t sit right with anyone, really.”

Toronto Motivated To Finish the Job

While he and his teammates are in pain right now, Heineman says they’re motivated to get back to the World Series next year and finish what they started after watching Los Angeles celebrate on their home turf.

“We…kinda just wanna get back there and finish the job,” Heineman said. “I think that the guys for sure that are coming back are thinking this way, and the guys that might be coming back are also thinking this way.”

Winning the American League again won’t be easy, but Toronto is on a mission to win its first World Series title since 1993. Not everyone will return next year, but the players who do will have a chip on their shoulder and plenty to play for.