Official start times for Mariners-Blue Jays released, all at 1:07 PM PT or earlier

ESPN and MLB have officially released the schedule for the Wild Card round, all of which will be broadcast on ESPN and its affiliate networks. The Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays will receive the 1:07 PM PT start time slot on both Friday and Saturday, followed by an 11:07 AM PT start on Sunday if necessary.

There’s no way around it, despite being long expected - this is a poke in the eye for Seattle fans. MLB and ESPN will always prioritize avoiding excess overlap in games to maximize time folks are tuned in throughout the day, and with half the U.S. population east of Chicago, there will simply always be a tendency to prioritize those regions over anything else. It’s not shocking to see the San Diego Padres-New York Mets matchup given top billing, but it is inconvenient in the extreme, bridging on heartbreaking to see the 21-year playoff drought conclude in the midst of a traditional work day that many (including myself) will be unable to skip out on (one of the exceedingly rare times being an “essential worker” has had any negative drawbacks, thank goodness). On the other hand of course, if you have a non-9-to-5ish work/class/etc. schedule (e.g. food service, hospital work, bus driving), this may in fact be a rare opportunity to enjoy some or all of a key game.

Fortunately, or hopefully, many of your circumstances will be mildly more mutable, and if that’s your circumstance, for Friday’s matchup, we’ve got you covered:

Seattle’s first two games are on ESPN proper, with the third currently slated for ABC along with your brunch if needed. All three games of the series for Seattle will be broadcast by the same ESPN team of Dave Flemming, Jessica Mendoza, Tim Kurkjian, and Coley Harvey. HOWEVER, should the M’s and Jays go to a game three while at least a couple other series’ wrap up more quickly, the timing will slide back:

So prep those excuse letters and your Saturday morning tailgates. Brunch baseball in the playoffs is here.