Wild Card Watch: Blue Jays kick off another busy day in AL playoff race

By Sportsnet Staff

With four of five American League wild-card contenders winning on Tuesday, the race for the final two playoff spots continues to be tight.

Toronto Blue Jays fans can watch their team play Wednesday afternoon before doing some scoreboard watching at night.

The Boston Red Sox hold the first wild-card spot and sit 1.5 games ahead of the Blue Jays, who remain a half-game up on the New York Yankees. The Seattle Mariners and Oakland A’s both are three games behind Toronto.

Here is a look at the four games teams in the wild card race.

Toronto Blue Jays (85-66) at Tampa Bay Rays (93-59), 3:10 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, SN Now

After holding on for a 4-2 win Tuesday to tie the three-game series, the Blue Jays won’t have a regular starter on the mound for the rubber match.

With the struggling Hyun Jin Ryu (neck) on the injured list, hard-throwing right-hander Julian Merryweather (0-1, 4.91 ERA) will serve as the opener with Ross Stripling (5-6, 4.50 ERA) expected to work after that.

The AL East-leading Rays also don’t have an ideal situation on the mound. Righty Luis Patino has a 5.08 ERA in his past seven starts.

After the matinee, the Jays head to Minnesota for four games against the Twins.

Texas Rangers (55-96) at New York Yankees (85-67), 7:05 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, SN Now

The Yankees hope their booming bats can help the team finish off a three-game sweep of the Rangers.

New York has homered in a season-high 14 consecutive games. The Yankees belted three homers on Tuesday in a 7-1 win.

Yankees starter Corey Kluber (5-3, 3.68 ERA) pitched six scoreless innings last time out against Cleveland.

Rangers starter Taylor Hearn (6-5, 4.52 ERA) gave up seven runs and didn’t make it out of the fourth inning in his last start against the Chicago White Sox.

New York Mets (73-78) at Boston Red Sox (87-65), 7:10 p.m. ET

The surging Red Sox have won six in a row and 38 of their last 56 at Fenway Park.

A 6-3 victory in the mini-series opener against the Mets on Tuesday marked Boston’s lowest run total during the win streak.

Red Sox left-hander Chris Sale (4-0, 2.40 ERA) will make his second start since testing positive for COVID-19. He gave up one run in five innings against Baltimore on Sept. 17.

Former Blue Jay Taijuan Walker (7-10, 4.27 ERA) starts for the Mets. He hasn’t recorded a win since July 3.

Seattle Mariners (82-69) at Oakland A’s (82-69), 9:40 p.m. ET

With wins in the first two games of the four-game series, the Mariners have moved into a tie with Oakland as both teams try to stay within striking distance of Toronto.

Seattle has won 10 of 14 against Oakland this season, including Tuesday’s 5-2 triumph.

The Mariners have a strong starter on the mound in right-hander Chris Flexen (12-6, 3.66 ERA) as they look to secure a series victory.

Oakland counters with lefty Cole Irvin (10-13, 3.94 ERA).

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