Week Ahead: Wild matchups on tap

There’s a reason they’re called Wild Cards, and in the week ahead in Major League Baseball, they’re set to get wilder than ever.

There isn’t much rest for the hopeful. Right away, there are possible October implications for every inning of baseball in game after game throughout Monday and the early-week slate.

Take a look in the upper left-hand corner of the country, for example. The Seattle Mariners have not given up and find themselves tied with the Tigers in the Wild Card standings, two games out of the second slot currently held by the Toronto Blue Jays. And those very Blue Jays are the ones visiting Safeco Field for a crucial three-game series that could alter the current landscape of the postseason standing in a big way.

The Mariners bounced back from two consecutive home losses to the Astros with a big win Sunday afternoon. Now they have to keep the momentum rolling against Toronto.

“Every win at this point is huge,” said Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager, whose two-run double got the Mariners going in their 7-3 victory over Houston on Sunday. “Everything gets magnified here at the end, for sure. It’s good to at least salvage this one, and we’ve got a big series coming up.”

As the Mariners try to make up ground against Toronto, the Astros will face the A’s on the road and the Tigers will travel to Minnesota to take on the Twins. The Yankees, still in the mix as well, will take on the Rays in St. Petersburg.

Meanwhile, the team in the top spot in the AL …

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