Game 1, wild card series
1:07 p.m. | T-Mobile Park | Seattle
TV: ROOT Sports | Radio: 710 AM
Jump to: Live updates » | Comments »
MLB wild-card series
Mariners at Blue Jays
J.P. Crawford meets with media before Game 1
J.P. gives a shout out to former teammates Dee Strange-Gordon and Kyle Seager for helping push club to this point. On Seager: “I really wish he was here. He molded this team.”
— Adam Jude (@A_Jude) October 7, 2022
JP Crawford thanked @FlashGJr and Kyle Seager for helping him learn to love the game of baseball again and how to prepare each day and be a leader
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) October 7, 2022
Lineup out for Mariners’ first playoff game in 21 years
The last #Mariners hitter to step to the plate in the postseason was center fielder Mike Cameron on Oct. 22, 2001. The next to do so will be center fielder Julio Rodriguez, who has worked closely with…Mike Cameron https://t.co/bpCsrBPEFs
— Larry Stone (@StoneLarry) October 7, 2022
The last time the Mariners played a playoff game was seven months before the release of the first Tobey Maguire “Spider-Man” movie, and “Star Wars: Attack of the Clones”.
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” would make its US premier 26 days later. https://t.co/VhpVXCDlcd
— Shane Lantz (@ShaneMLantz) October 7, 2022
How the Mariners can make a deep postseason run this season
TORONTO — A month ago, the Mariners were everyone’s sneaky, darkhorse, under-the-radar, chic pick to advance deep into the baseball postseason. Maybe even all the way to the World Series. Indeed, you heard it so often that the sentiment could be found perched on top of the radar, no longer hiding under it.
And then reality hit. Julio Rodriguez got a wrist injury, and then a back injury. Mitch Haniger tweaked his back as well. Eugenio Suarez hurt his finger, and so did Cal Raleigh. Starting pitchers who had been sailing along in style suddenly seemed to hit a rut in unison. The lockdown bullpen hit a spell where the lock was picked, resulting in massive vandalism of the Mariners’ aura. The ballclub went on what was to have been a cakewalk road trip and lost seven of 10.
As manager Scott Servais said after the regular-season finale Wednesday, “Everybody thought the sky was going to fall, and the Mariners would never win another game.”
Julio Rodriguez’s star power knows no bounds. Now he’s ready to shine in the playoffs.
TORONTO — And the man-child shall lead them into the place where legends are born and triumphs are immortalized.
The exploits and accomplishments of Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez, of which there are many despite his limited time in professional baseball, have already been written or spoken often into the lore of the precocious 21-year-old prodigy turned baseball phenomenon.
But on Friday a new chapter could be written into the mythology of Rodriguez’s ascension from future star and Seattle fan favorite to Major League Baseball’s next superstar.
Regardless of what he’s accomplished — including a first season that exceeded all expectations (except perhaps his own) and makes him the obvious choice for the American League Rookie of the Year, while leading the Mariners to the postseason for the first time since 2001 — the intensely scrutinized stage of the playoffs separates the good, the great and the elite.
Analysis: Breaking down the Mariners’ wild-card series vs. the Blue Jays
TORONTO — Breaking down the Mariners’ American League Wild Card Series against the Blue Jays, which starts Friday in Toronto.
Position-by-position comparison
First base
Ty France: After a blazing start to the season — a .316/.390/.476 slash line in his first 70 games — that saw him make the AL All-Star team, France cooled off significantly in the second half. The combination of nagging injuries, timing issues and an over-aggressive approach, dropped his numbers to .276/.340/.437 with 20 homers and 94 RBI.
Vlad Guerrero Jr.: After finishing second in AL MVP voting last season, Guerrero couldn’t replicate his prodigious numbers in 2022. He still played in 160 games, posting a .274/.339/.480 slash line with 32 homers and 97 RBI.
Edge: Blue Jays
Second base
Adam Frazier: With Toronto expected to start all right-handed pitchers, Frazier will get the start over Dylan Moore. It’s been a disappointing year for him going into free agency. He’s posted a .238/.301/.311 slash line with three homers and 42 RBI. He came into this season with a career .281/.344/.412 slash line.
Whit Merrifield Jr.: The veteran utility player will likely see playing time over Cavan Biggio and Santiago Espinal, who has been out with an oblique injury. Merrifield, who was an All-Star with Kansas City, has struggled. He’s had a .281/.323/.446 slash line with five homers and 16 RBI in 44 games since joining the Jays.
Edge: Push
Mariners set wild-card roster with 12 pitchers, 14 position players
TORONTO — With their first playoff game since 2001 looming later that evening at the Rogers Centre, the Mariners set their postseason roster Friday morning with no major surprises.
The roster includes 12 pitchers — four starter and eight relievers — with 14 position players. The Mariners kept all three catchers on the roster, knowing that Cal Raleigh’s thumb is still a lingering issue and with the improved hitting of Luis Torrens. Seattle was considering the possibility of putting outfielder Cade Marlowe, who has never played above the Class AA level, on the roster as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement, and carry only 11 pitchers.
But the Mariners opted to keep their bullpen largely the same for the series.
Seattle Times sports staff