Major League Baseball

Mariners face key series with fellow wild-card contender Toronto

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 11:08 a.m. ET

foxsports

SEATTLE -- The Seattle Mariners salvaged the third game of a pretty big September series against fellow wild-card contender Houston on Sunday.

That series was nothing compared to the enormity of the three games that could make or break Seattle over the next three days. The Mariners (79-70) come off their Sunday win over Houston with a huge series against a Toronto team that lost Sunday and now holds a two-game lead over Seattle in the American League wild-card standings.

The approach the Mariners are taking into this series with all-or-nothing consequences is to treat it like the rest.

"Anyone can beat anyone," catcher Mike Zunino said after Sunday's 7-3 win over the Astros. "To put added pressure on ourselves is out of our style. That's not something we need to do."

Center fielder Leonys Martin said the Mariners aren't getting too wrapped up in the standings.

"We're in a situation now where we've got to win every game, no matter who we're playing," Martin said. "We just need to keep fighting and never give up, like we've been doing."

Seattle will send right-hander Taijuan Walker to the mound for Monday's opener, and it's hard to know what to expect whenever the 24-year-old former top prospect is on the mound. Walker struggled with inconsistency and a foot injury to the point that he was demoted to Triple-A in August, and he endured one of the worst starts of his career in a 10-3 loss to the Angels on Sept. 3. But he's bounced back to put together two solid outings, including a complete-game shutout his last time out.

The Mariners credit Walker's latest turnaround -- albeit for only two starts -- to a dramatic change in his delivery. It's worked out so far, as the new delivery has produced good results.

Pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. told MLB.com recently that Walker's willingness to adapt was a big part of his improvement.

"At the tail end of the season for a team that is possibly in a playoff run, to go out and kind of create a new delivery is not easy to do," Stottlemyre said.

Toronto is hoping starter Marco Estrada (8-9, 3.78 ERA) can change the team's fortunes after losing the final two games of the Angels series over the weekend. The Blue Jays managed to score just one run in those two losses, causing them to fall a game behind Baltimore in the wild-card standings.

Sunday's loss left manager John Gibbons to tell reporters: "Sometimes you run into a road block and you struggle."

The Blue Jays hope to navigate the obstacle and keep moving forward this week -- and on into their final three series against the Yankees, Orioles and Red Sox.

"We're right there," shortstop Troy Tulowitzki told MLB.com on Sunday. "We play those teams that are right there with us, too, with our remaining schedule. We like where we're at, obviously we know we can play better and hopefully that comes out real soon."