Mariners ALDS broadcast schedule provides an excuse to root for Red Sox

The Seattle Mariners may only be hours away from finding out who they'll be playing in the American League Division Series, and they already know when they'll take the field on Saturday and Sunday at T-Mobile Park.

More or less, anyway. As the Mariners revealed on Wednesday, Game 2 of the ALDS is set for 5:03 p.m. PT on Sunday, while Game 1 will take place at 1:08 p.m. PT or 5:38 p.m. PT on Saturday depending on who wins the AL Wild Card Series between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees:

The Red Sox-Yankees series does not have anything to do with who the Mariners will face in the ALDS. Those two are battling for a chance to face the Toronto Blue Jays, whereas the Mariners await the winner of the Wild Card Series between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians.

To these ends, Boston and Detroit currently have the advantages. The Red Sox beat the Yankees 3-1 in Game 1 of their series on Tuesday, with the Tigers riding a dominant Tarik Skubal performance to a 2-1 win over the Guardians.

The Mariners' schedule reveal provides one reason to root for Red Sox

In a vacuum, I think what we all really want is for the Mariners to play in prime time on both Saturday and Sunday. None of us is going to say we're not biased, but a team with this much "World Series or bust" energy deserves the biggest possible stage, right?

Right, but there's also the reality that the Mariners really liked playing in day games this season:

• In Night Games: 57-51, .528 W/L%
• In Day Games: 33-21, .611 W/L%

The latter figure is nothing to sneeze at, as only the Los Angeles Dodgers won more frequently when playing in sunshine. If ever there was a good team to share a weird superpower with, well, that's the one.

The Mariners are already on a collision course with an earlier start time on Saturday. The Red Sox only need to beat the Yankees once more (either in Game 2 later on Wednesday or in Game 3 on Thursday) to advance to the ALDS. Beating the Yankees is something they have gotten quite good at, as they are 10-4 against New York this year and 9-1 in the last 10 playoff meetings between the two clubs.

As for whether the Mariners should be pulling for a matchup with the Tigers or the Guardians, TV analyst Ryan Rowland-Smith made some good points in tabbing the latter as a bigger threat during a chat with Wyman and Bob of Seattle Sports. Namely, that Cleveland is a pitching juggernaut right now.

Either way, all the Mariners can do for now is wait...and maybe cross their fingers in hopes that Boston does them a solid.