Toronto Blue Jays taking on Seattle Mariners in AL wild-card series this weekend

The fourth-seeded and top wildcard Toronto Blue Jays will take on the fifth-seed Seattle Mariners at Rogers Centre this weekend in the American League wild-card series.

On Oct. 4, the Seattle Mariners defeated the Detroit Tigers 7-6 in 10 innings. The Mariner’s trip to Toronto was secured when the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-0 in a Tuesday evening game cut short at five innings due to rain.

The Blue Jays announced Wednesday morning that starter Alek Manoah will take the mound Friday kicking off the best-of-three playoff series at 4:07 P.M. ET. Game 2 will also start at 4:07 P.M. on Saturday. If necessary, Sunday’s game is scheduled for 2:07 p.m.

Whichever team comes out of this weekend victorious will go onto face the American League’s top team, the Houston Astros in a best-of-five series beginning Oct. 11.

In an interview with CTV News Toronto last week, Toronto Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano said he has sights set on bringing as many postseason games to Rogers Centre.

“We want to have that home field advantage, get the fans three games at least, and hopefully more after that,” Romano said. “I’ve seen this place when it’s really rocking and I really want to be able to contribute to bringing that back to the city.”

Jordan Romano (Abby O'Brien/CTV Toronto)

Bo Bichette, currently leading the American League in hits, told CTV News Toronto, after six years with the organization, he’s ready to bring some playoff energy to Rogers Centre.

“That’s what you hear about – how amazing it is [in the stadium] when the team is winning, and when the team is in the playoffs, so it would definitely be a great opportunity to be able to enjoy that.”

Bo Bichette (Abby O'Brien/CTV Toronto)

WHEN DID THE BLUE JAYS LAST MAKE THE PLAYOFFS?

This marks the third time in seven seasons the Blue Jays have made the playoffs and the first time the Blue Jays will play postseason games in Toronto since 2016.

In 2020, the team was swept 2-0 in the wild-card series by the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Before that, they made it to the AL championship series two seasons in a row in 2015 and 2016.

Toronto clinched this year’s playoff spot on Sept. 30 after the Baltimore Orioles lost 5-3 to the Boston Red Sox.