It’s rare when one win during the summer out of a 162 game schedule can have a lasting impact on what may take place weeks and months later.
Sometimes those wins can be looked at as turning points in a teams’ season, and certainly George Springer’s Canada Day grand slam against the New York Yankees is a testament to that. But there are other moments along the way that may not feel significant at the time, but gives credibility to the idea that every win is meaningful.
As the Toronto Blue Jays get ready to take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, there is one game in particular that stands as an outlier as to exactly why Toronto has home field advantage in this series, and it’s thanks to Mason Fluharty.
How Blue Jays “Flu Game” from August could have a lasting impact on 2025 World Series
The Blue Jays finished the regular season with a 94-68 record, the best in the American League thanks to their regular season record against the Yankees. The Yankees also had a 94-68 record, but Toronto was 8-5 against New York in the regular season, thus giving the Blue Jays the edge.
It was an edge that benefited them greatly, seeing as it helped them win the American League East division, allowed them to avoid playing in the Wild Card series and gave them home field advantage throughout the American League side of the playoffs. That’s just one instance that shows how crucial winning head-to-head matchups is.
The Dodgers finished the year 93-69, which was only the third best record in the NL and had to go through the Wild Card series, the National League Division series and the National League Championship series. They now get to play in the World Series, but they don’t get home field advantage thanks to a missed opportunity at sweeping the Blue Jays in August.
The Blue Jays and the Dodgers met for a weekend matchup from Aug. 8-10 in LA. The Dodgers took the first two games by a combined score of 14-2. In the third game, the Blue Jays led 4-3 going into the bottom of the eighth and after Dodgers started to put a rally together, Jeff Hoffman as asked to come in and get them out of the jam.
Unfortunately, he walked Freddie Freeman with the bases loaded to tie the ball game. In the top of the ninth, Ernie Clement led off with a solo home run against Alex Vesia to give the Blue Jays another one-run lead. Hoffman then came back out to begin the ninth inning.
Three walks and a botched bunt attempt later, the bases were loaded with one out and Manager John Schneider felt he had seen enough of Hoffman, so he brought in the lefty Mason Fluharty to try and get two of the biggest outs of the season. Fluharty was asked to face Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts to finish the game. No big deal, just two former MVPs right?
It took him nine pitches, but he struck out Ohtani on a 3-2 sweeper that ended up well below the strike zone. Next up was Betts, and Fluharty threw him three straigh cut fastballs. The first one missed outside, the second was a called strike, catching the corner high and away. The third was in on the hands and Betts punched it into the ground to the left side. Clement moved to his left, fielded the ball cleanly and threw it to second for the force out to end the game.
Thank you Mason Fluharty for giving us home field advantage for the World Seriespic.twitter.com/hfbYA0YfHK
— Dr. Grizzo (PhD, MD, BA, MBA, 7’4 240 IQ) (@mrgrozz) October 21, 2025
It quickly became known as the “Flu Game” for Fluharty’s ability to get two guys out who could have very easily ended the game with one swing. It was also Fluharty’s first, and to this point only, MLB save. Following that game, Fluharty posted an ERA of 1.00 over nine innings of work with 11 strikeouts in 10 appearances to finish out the season.
That one win gave the Blue Jays a better record than the Dodgers by exactly one game. And now that the dust has settled on the pressure cookers that are the League Championship Series’, the Fall Classic schedule has been dictated by the Blue Jays staving off elimination in a game in August at Dodgers Stadium.
