Blue Jays to face Mariners in best-of-three AL wild-card starting Friday, playoff schedule released

The Toronto Blue Jays now know who the club’s playoff opponent will be on Friday at the Rogers Centre.

The Seattle Mariners will be heading to Toronto to face the Blue Jays in the first game of the best-of-three wild-card playoff series.

The Mariners defeated the Detroit Tigers 7-6 in 10 innings on Tuesday, and then the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-0 in a game called after five innings because of rain.

Toronto released its playoff schedule on Wednesday. It will see Game 1 played on Friday at 4:07 p.m. ET, with Game 2 slated for Saturday at 4:07 p.m. ET.

There is currently no set time for Sunday’s Game 3, which will be updated if necessary. The entire series will be played at Rogers Centre.

All of Toronto’s playoff games will be broadcast on Sportsnet channels and called by Blue Jays broadcasters, including a mix of Buck Martinez, Pat Tabler and Dan Shulman.

The Blue Jays also confirmed Alek Manoah as Friday’s Game 1 starter. Though not yet official, Toronto will likely go with a three-man rotation of Manoah, Kevin Gausman and Ross Stripling. It’s unclear if the currently injured Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Santiago Espinal will be healthy and activated ahead of Game 1.

Mariners manager Scott Servais told reporters on Wednesday that Luis Castillo would start Game 1 in Toronto.

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The Rays, who finished in the third and final wild-card spot, will play the AL Central-winning Cleveland Guardians in a best-of-three series.

The Blue Jays had a 2-5 record against the Mariners this season, including a four-game Seattle sweep in July. The two teams have not played each other since.

That series and losing streak led to the eventual firing of now-former manager Charlie Montoyo and the promotion of John Schneider, who has since guided the Blue Jays to a 45-27 record.

Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider in 2022. Photo: Sportsnet.

It has been a historically significant season in Seattle as the Mariners clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2001, a campaign in which the club won 116 games.

The Mariners, currently 88-72, roster former Blue Jays starter and reigning AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray, who signed with the club as a free agent last winter. Along with Ray, the Mariners boast a talented starting rotation that includes trade deadline acquisition Castillo and Logan Gilbert.

The 21-year-old sensation and likely AL Rookie of the Year Julio Rodriguez is another player to look out for as he heads to Toronto in the midst of concluding a tremendous first season in the big leagues with 27 home runs, 74 RBIs and 25 stolen bases.