When the Toronto Blue Jays play in Seattle, it almost feels like a neutral field.

Thousands of western Canadians generally flock to T-Mobile Park to see their country’s lone major league team.

While economic and political factors might stop some Canadians this year, a robust following for the Blue Jays still is expected when the team opens a three-game series against the Mariners on Friday night.

It also happens to be a rematch of last year’s American League Championship Series, which the Blue Jays won in seven games.

“I think it will be good for us,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “It brings you back to that heightened sense of awareness and competitiveness. It brings you back to a really, really emotional time last year. I think it will be good to be back there. They’re a damn good team. We like playing there, and we enjoy the atmosphere there. I think it will be good for the guys, honestly.”

The underperforming Blue Jays, who had a day off Thursday, lost six games in a row before taking two of three from the visiting New York Mets this week. Sean Keys and Myles Straw each hit a three-run homer in Wednesday’s 9-3 Toronto victory.

It was the first career home run for Keys, who was playing in just his third MLB game.

“That was unbelievable,” he said. “Vlad (Guerrero Jr.) brought up the (home-run) jacket. I was seeing it before the game, but I didn’t know if it would be a reality to be able to wear that. … It was awesome to be able to celebrate with them.”

Despite their 41-46 record, the Blue Jays are only 3 1/2 games behind Seattle (45-43) in the race for the AL’s third and final wild-card berth.

The Mariners are coming off a three-game sweep of the visiting Los Angeles Angels. Seattle won 1-0 Thursday as Bryce Miller took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and batterymate Cal Raleigh brought home the game’s lone run on a bases-loaded walk in the sixth.

The Mariners snapped a franchise-record-tying streak of 13 games with three runs or less last weekend against Cleveland before managing just two hits Thursday.

“To say runs were a premium (Thursday) would be an understatement,” Seattle manager Dan Wilson said.

The Mariners, who have dealt with health concerns for much of the season, saw outfielders Julio Rodriguez and Victor Robles leave Thursday’s game due to injuries.

Rodriguez was hit in the back of the helmet by an errant throw from Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel while running the bases in the first inning, and Robles, who replaced Rodriguez, was hit by a pitch in the right wrist/forearm area in the third.

Wilson said Rodriguez was in the concussion protocol and that Robles’ X-rays came back negative, though both players were to be re-evaluated Friday.

The series opener between the 1977 expansion brethren is set to feature a pair of right-handers in the Blue Jays’ Dylan Cease (4-4, 3.02 ERA) and the Mariners’ Luis Castillo (3-6, 4.93).

Cease took a 7-4 loss Saturday against visiting Texas, giving up four runs over 4 2/3 innings. He allowed just four hits but walked five in addition to his 10 strikeouts. Cease is 0-0 with a 4.82 ERA in two career starts against Seattle.

Castillo is coming off a 3-1 victory last Friday in Cleveland. He allowed one run on four hits in six innings, with one walk and four strikeouts. Castillo is 2-3 with a 4.68 ERA in six previous starts against Toronto.

–Field Level Media

The Miami Marlins had a sensational 20-6 record in June, and observers started to overdose on midseason optimism and talk about a possible postseason berth.

Then the Marlins received a huge reality check by starting July with two consecutive setbacks to the Colorado Rockies.

The Marlins will look to get back on the winning track when they face the Athletics on Friday night at West Sacramento, Calif.

Miami was outscored 20-7 while losing the final two contests of a four-game series with the host Rockies. Thursday’s finale saw the Rockies rout the Marlins 14-4.

Miami won 10 of 12 games before the last two losses, and the franchise has made just two postseason appearances (2020, 2023) since winning the 2003 World Series.

Manager Clayton McCullough said he understands why the playoff chatter has increased, but he also knew a 10-run loss marked the right time to deliver a message.

“We can all get caught up in what could happen months from now,” McCullough said. “Again, it’s months from now. We need to go into a new series and get as best prepared as we can for the A’s and try to win a series.

“All our focus needs to be on and should be on us. All the other discussions don’t matter right now. It’s about playing good baseball and trying to win a series.”

After being shellacked in Denver, the Marlins will find themselves in another great hitter’s ballpark for the three-game set in West Sacramento.

“Sacramento, you can really hit (there),” McCullough said. “It will be trying to limit damage, limit the big inning.”

Miami’s Otto Lopez had a homer among three hits on Thursday to raise his major-league-best average to .336.

The Athletics, meanwhile, just lost two of three home games to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Wednesday’s 7-1 victory was just the third in the past 11 games overall for the A’s.

Shea Langeliers belted his 20th homer of the season — his fourth straight season of hitting at least 20. He leads American League catchers in homers and hits (87).

“For everyone out there that feels like Shea needs to be doing more, that’s a great reminder for all those,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “He’s got 20 right now before the break. He’s been the catalyst of our offense since April, and it’s hard as a catcher to sustain the performance he put on in April. He’s done a great job. …

“The main goal is to keep Shea healthy and get him to the All-Star Game, which, I’m pretty confident that he’s going to be that guy.”

The A’s have been hit hard by injuries, with shortstop Jacob Wilson (right thumb), infielder Zack Gelof (right hand) and left fielder Tyler Soderstrom (left hip) on the injured list.

In addition, designated hitter Brent Rooker (left knee) soon will undergo season-ending surgery.

“This is a big blow,” Kotsay said. “It’s a middle-of-the-order bat. It’s a guy that produced for us offensively for the last three seasons with 30-plus homers.”

The Athletics will start Jack Perkins (2-3, 6.00 ERA) against Miami’s Tyler Phillips (1-3, 3.02) in a battle of right-handers on Friday.

Perkins, 26, has received four straight no-decisions since losing to the Houston Astros on June 5. On Saturday, he gave up two runs and four hits over five innings against the Los Angeles Angels. The A’s lost 5-2.

This will be Perkins’ first career outing against Miami.

Phillips, 28, is 0-2 over his last three turns. He lost 2-1 to the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday when he gave up two runs and six hits over 7 1/3 innings.

Phillips is 1-0 with a 4.00 ERA in two career appearances (one start) against the A’s. Langeliers is 1-for-4 against Phillips.

–Field Level Media

The Los Angeles Dodgers intend to have a bonding moment wrapped up inside a baseball game when they host the San Diego Padres on Friday.

The Dodgers are set to send right-hander Shohei Ohtani to the mound, while Dalton Rushing will be his catcher.

Ohtani (8-2, 1.58 ERA) will be pitching with eight days of rest between starts, more to manage his season workload than because he had trouble getting on the same page with Rushing behind the plate June 24 at Minnesota. Ohtani and the Dodgers won 4-3 that day.

The issues in the outing became troublesome enough that Ohtani took over calling pitches at one point, with manager Dave Roberts having a heart-to-heart discussion with Rushing in the dugout between innings.

Will Smith typically catches Ohtani, but he has been on the injured list since early June with neck inflammation. Roberts will return to the Ohtani-Rushing partnership again instead of using current backup catcher Chuckie Robinson.

“I think that they will be (in sync) more than they were his last start,” Roberts said Thursday. “They don’t think the same, so it takes time. But again, I think Dalton understands that is what he signed up for. The job of a catcher is to be a servant to the pitcher. That’s the bottom line. So it’s Dalton’s job to get on page with whatever pitcher. I expect that all to be resolved.”

Ohtani also is expected to be in the lineup as a hitter.

In three career starts against San Diego, Ohtani is 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA. The win came May 20 at San Diego when he pitched five scoreless innings in a 4-0 win for Los Angeles.

He is 6-1 overall in his past eight outings.

The Padres hope to end a six-game losing streak when they send right-hander Michael King (5-7, 3.55) to the mound. King’s most recent start came Sunday when he faced the Dodgers at home and gave up four runs on three hits with four walks over 4 1/3 innings. He took the loss in the 4-2 game.

In seven career appearances (five starts) against Los Angeles, King is 3-1 with a 2.94 ERA.

The Padres won the opener of a home series against the Dodgers last weekend but have now matched their longest losing streak of the season. The latest loss came after the Padres led 6-0 as the Dodgers rebounded with 12 consecutive runs in a 12-7 victory.

Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill and Jake Cronenworth all hit home runs in the first two innings for San Diego. Los Angeles received four hits each from Rushing and Kyle Tucker as they both tied career highs. Rushing also matched his career high with four RBIs.

The Padres’ bad news did not end there. They lost catcher Freddy Fermin in the fifth inning after he was hit in the mask by a foul ball. Before the game, right-handed reliever Jason Adam (shoulder) was placed on the injured list, while right-hander German Marquez was activated.

“Felt like the safest thing was to put him on the IL, call German up,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “So hopefully Jason’s injury isn’t too long, and that we just give him a little breather, and then he can be back helping our bullpen again.”

–Field Level Media