Blue Jays bid to silence boos in home clash vs. Mariners

The last time the Seattle Mariners visited the Toronto Blue Jays, it was October, and a berth in the 2025 World Series was at stake.

The Blue Jays won Games 6 and 7 at home to take the American League Championship Series before losing the World Series in seven games to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Both the Blue Jays and Mariners have been disappointing this season and are involved in congested races for limited playoff spots, which adds significance to their three-game series that opens Friday night in Toronto.

Seattle is coming off a 4-2 homestand that ended with a 6-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday. The Mariners reside three games out of first place in the AL West and four games removed from the league's third and final wild-card spot.

The Blue Jays will look to redeem themselves after being booed heartily on Thursday during a 13-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals in the rubber match of a three-game series.

"There's no better fans in the sport," Toronto manager John Schneider said. "They're entitled to their opinion. When you're getting (beaten) pretty good, they're allowed to have their opinion. We love their support every night."

The Blue Jays are 3 1/2 games out of the final AL wild-card spot.

Seattle took two of three games from both the Chicago Cubs and the Phillies on the homestand before embarking on a six-game trip -- to Toronto and Boston.

"Winning two (series) here at home against a couple of really good clubs, you know, that's what we're looking to do," Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. "And now we have to continue that on the road and keep winning series, keep putting consistent at-bats together. And coming off this homestand, we feel pretty good about that."

Dylan Cease (8-5, 2.37 ERA) will start Friday's game for Toronto. The right-hander is 1-0 with a 2.76 ERA in three career starts against the Mariners. He held them to three hits and struck out nine batters over seven scoreless innings in a 2-0 victory on July 3.

The Mariners have not announced their starting pitchers for the series.

"We're looking at everything and trying to figure out all the options," Wilson said.

Both teams have suffered from significant subpar performances by a couple of star hitters -- Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh and Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

After working on adjustments, Raleigh has shown signs recently of breaking out of his season-long funk despite striking out four times on Wednesday. He hit three home runs on Monday and another on Tuesday.

"Ultimately that's what it's all about is being able to recognize pitches, lay off bad ones, see the good ones and execute on the good ones," Raleigh said.

In his past seven games, he is batting .350 with five homers and eight RBIs.

During his past seven games, Guerrero is batting .222 with no home runs or RBIs. He has seven homers for the season, and none at home. He has one homer and five RBIs in the past 30 games.

Guerrero has become known for jogging to first on groundouts and was one of the targets of the booing on Thursday.

"He's been doing a lot of work," Schneider said. "I think it's always good, when you're looking for something, to try new things. He's hit outside early a couple of times, but he's looking for something to click and looking for something to hold onto and carry forward."

--Field Level Media