Everything you need to know about the upcoming Blue Jays-Mariners playoff series

Last year, the Blue Jays won 91 games and finished one game out of a playoff spot. This year, they ensured history didn’t repeat itself by punching their ticket to the postseason for the ninth time in franchise history.

The Blue Jays meet up with a team that just squashed their 21-year playoff drought, the Seattle Mariners. Toronto extinguished their 22-year playoff drought back in 2015, so they’re all too familiar with the pain Mariners fans endured for two-plus decades.

Now their seasons boil down to a three-game series kicking off in Toronto at Rogers Centre on Friday. Two of the youngest position player cores in baseball face off to see who has the distinction of facing the Houston Astros in the ALDS.

During the regular season, the Mariners took the season series 5-2 over the Blue Jays, outscoring them 28-21. After getting swept in Seattle back in early July, Charlie Montoyo was out of a job shortly after the disastrous west coast swing.

For the third time this season, these expansion-mate clubs from 1977 will face off. Here’s what you can expect in this highly anticipated Blue Jays-Mariners series.

Pitching matchups

• Game 1: Alek Manoah (16-7, 2.24 ERA) vs. Luis Castillo (8-6, 2.99 ERA)
• Game 2: Kevin Gausman (12-10, 3.35 ERA) vs. Robbie Ray (12-2, 3.71 ERA)

In Game 1 it’s Mariners righty Luis Castillo against the Blue Jays’ ace, Alek Manoah. In game two, last year’s Cy Young winner Robbie Ray faces the man who the Blue Jays replaced him with last offseason, Kevin Gausman.

Since joining the M’s at the trade deadline, Castillo has been lights out, pitching to a 3.17 ERA in 11 games. Meanwhile, Manoah was one of the best starters in the AL this year, owning a 2.24 ERA, the second-lowest single season ERA in Blue Jays history.

Pitching wise, these are two decent teams and their starting rotations will take them as far as they can go in October. The Mariners had a starting rotation ERA of 3.75 this year and the Blue Jays had a staff ERA of 3.99.

Both have a deadly one-two punch in their starting rotation, and with Ross Stripling ready to go in a potential game three, the Blue Jays have three solid starting pitcher options for this series if necessary.

If the Wild Card goes to a third and deciding game, the Mariners could counter with rookie sensation George Kirby or right-hander Logan Gilbert. Both own ERA’s under 3.40 for the Mariners this year.

Lineup vs. lineup

For the second consecutive season, the Blue Jays had one of the best starting lineups in the American League, but the Seattle Mariners weren’t far behind. Toronto trumps Seattle in terms of power and runs scored, but the M’s were a sneaky-good lineup in 2022.

Seattle’s three-headed monster comprising Julio Rodriguez, Eugenio Suarez and Cal Raleigh will keep their opponent’s hands full in this series. This trio combined to hit 85 home runs this year, almost half of all the Mariners’ home runs in 2022.

Meanwhile, the Blue Jays boast the American League leader in hits, Bo Bichette. One of the best postseason hitters of all-time, George Springer. And hot hitters like Teoscar Hernandez, Whit Merrifield and Danny Jansen.

And by the way, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is sprinkled in there as a cherry on top. He wasn’t quite his MVP-self in 2022, but has shown flashes of brilliance from his 48 home run campaign just one year ago.

The Wild Card is now a three-game series

• Game 1: Friday October 7 at 4:07 p.m. EST
• Game 2: Saturday October 8 at 4:07 p.m. EST
• Game 3 (if necessary): Sunday October 9 at 2:07 p.m. EST

No longer will a team’s 162 game regular season boil down to a one-and-done game. This year, MLB’s expanded playoffs includes a three-game series for the opening Wild Card rounds.

For all the hard work they do to reach the postseason, teams get a little more runway in October with at least two playoff games. MLB implemented the Wild Card in 1995, perhaps to capitalize on the popularity of NFL and NCAA’s one-and-done playoff system.

Of course, the first and only time the Blue Jays appeared in a Wild Card game back in 2016, they dispatched the Baltimore Orioles in walk-off fashion thanks to an epic home run by Edwin Encarnacion.

The home team hosts the entire series

Another new wrinkle to the MLB postseason system this year is the host Wild Card team can host up to all three games in their own ballpark. Since MLB sandwiches this series in between the end of the regular season and the division series, there’s no time for travel.

While American League teams like the Houston Astros and New York Yankees get a bye and await their opponent in the ALDS, the Blue Jays, Mariners, Guardians and Rays will duke it out to see who advances to the next round.

The Blue Jays have the benefit of hosting up to all three games at Rogers Centre, the first time they’ve hosted playoff games in their ballpark since October 2016. Six years is a long time, and fans will be loud when the series kicks off this Friday.