"I'm so happy to be back in Canada" - Isiah Kiner-Falefa 🥲🇨🇦
Isiah Kiner-Falefa embraces full-circle moment in game-tying hit versus Astros: ‘I went to Pittsburgh for this hit’
Photo credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
By Thomas Hall
Sep 10, 2025, 12:00 EDTUpdated: Sep 10, 2025, 12:01 EDT
Not even two weeks removed from being claimed off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates, Isiah Kiner-Falefa couldn’t be happier to receive this opportunity, playing for the Toronto Blue Jays in the heart of a pennant race.
This is why he signed a two-year, $15-million contract with this franchise two winters ago. He wanted to be here for these kinds of moments, the type of ones like Tuesday’s electrifying 4-3 comeback victory over the Houston Astros — the club’s 43rd of the season, tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the most in baseball.
It just took him longer than expected to reach this point.
Kiner-Falefa didn’t even start this game. And neither did a few of his new teammates, who proved crucial to Toronto’s latest comeback heroics — such as Myles Straw, who scored the winning run in the 10th inning, Tyler Heineman and Davis Schneider — as manager John Schneider utilized all 14 position players at his disposal.
Unfortunately, that didn’t include shortstop Bo Bichette, as he was unavailable after hitting the 10-day IL with a left knee sprain prior to Tuesday’s contest. But, in true 2025 Blue Jays’ style, they still found a way to get the job done — even after mustering all but three hits through the first eight innings.
With runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the ninth, Toronto continued to maxize its bench, using Davis Schneider as a pinch-hitter against Astros closer Bryan Abreu, resulting in a pivotal six-pitch walk to load the bases. That set the table for Kiner-Falefa, who also entered as a pinch-hitter.
The moment he had been dreaming of since being traded to the Pirates last season had finally arrived. Everything he endured before then, like his season-long offensive woes and playing for a rebuilding franchise, was all suddenly worth it. All it took was one swing, punishing a hanging slider from Abreu into left field, delivering the biggest hit of his Blue Jays career.
IKF TIES IT!
Kiner-Falefa’s game-tying single was another reminder of how romantic sports — baseball in this case — can be. If not for Ernie Clement’s recent injuries (fractured middle finger, shin laceration), which he’s now playing through as the club’s primary shortstop, management may not have claimed the former Pirate off waivers last month.
But sometimes, situations like this work out better than anyone could’ve imagined, and that’s precisely what’s transpired here for IKF and the Blue Jays.
“Walking up to the plate, I had a feeling that everything that happened last year and everything that happened this year is meant to be,” Kiner-Falefa told reporters post-game, including MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson. “To come through in that spot, it was just surreal. I kind of visualized it walking up to the plate. I was like, ‘I went to Pittsburgh for this hit right here.’ It all came full circle.”
After pinch-hitting for Andrés Giménez, Kiner-Falefa remained in the game at second base, where he had a perfect view of first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s incredible gun-slinging throw to third base to neutralize Jose Altuve, who began the top of the 10th at second as Houston’s extra-inning runner.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. nabs Jose Altuve at third base! 😯
There are maybe one or two first basemen in the majors with an arm as strong as Guerrero’s who’re capable of making a gutsy throw like that. But there are even fewer who possess the baseball IQ to visualize it before the play even unfolds.
Without it, who knows how that inning may have played out?
“That play changed the whole outcome of the game. That’s what it takes to win the World Series,” Kiner-Falefa said.
That’s where this team hopes to finish this season. It’s World Series or bust in their minds, and they’re prepared to do whatever it takes. They’ve been operating that way all year, adapting to each situation as it arises.
Now in his second Blue Jays tenure, Kiner-Falefa perfectly embodies that message. He’s willing to play any position, even catcher — which he last played in 2019. He’s willing to hit in any situation. Nothing is off the table.
Just as long as he’s playing for the team — and country — he considers “home.”