The Toronto Blue Jays’ first foe within the playoffs is now official.
Toronto is slated to tackle the Seattle Mariners within the American League wild-card spherical. The sequence will lead off Friday at Rogers Centre.
The Seattle Mariners defeated the Detroit Tigers 7-6 in 10 innings, and stamped their journey to Toronto when the Boston Purple Sox tripped the Tampa Bay Rays 6-0 in a sport referred to as after 5 innings due to rain.
Having clinched the highest spot within the wild card, the Blue Jays may have home-field benefit in opposition to one of many two groups that they had been battling in opposition to late within the common season for the sting.
It’s simply the second time in six seasons Toronto has made the playoffs. The staff’s final look within the post-season was in 2020 the place it obtained swept within the wild-card spherical by the Tampa Bay Rays, who will enter these playoffs because the third wild-card seed.
The final time the Blue Jays made it to “October baseball” earlier than then was in 2016 when the staff made it to the AL Championship Sequence for the second consecutive season.
Toronto clinched a playoff spot Sept. 30 after the Baltimore Orioles dropped a 5-3 choice to the Boston Purple Sox. The Blue Jays then took maintain of the No. 1 wild card spot on Monday with a 5-1 win over the Orioles paired with Seattle’s 4-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers.
Toronto is 2-5 in its season sequence in opposition to the Mariners. The 2 sides had matched up in two separate sequence’ with the Blue Jays taking the primary one 2-1 at house in Might, then dropping all 4 within the second sequence at Seattle in July.
The staff is heading into the post-season with a head of steam. After dropping two of its closing three video games in opposition to the New York Yankees final week, Toronto has now gained 4 straight with two video games remaining.
The Blue Jays shut the season on the street with a doubleheader in opposition to the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Oct. 4, 2022.