After providing perhaps the highlight of the wild-card round with their remarkable seven-run comeback, the Mariners will be thrown from the frying pan to the fire as they head to Houston for the ALDS. Seattle will face presumed AL Cy Young Award favorite Justin Verlander in Game 1 of the series, with talented righthander Logan Gilbert opposing him.
The Astros won 12 out of the 19 regular season matchups against the Mariners this year, including six of the last seven (though the two sides haven’t played each other since the end of July). At stake is a sixth straight ALCS appearance for Houston, while Seattle is searching for its first since 2001 and fourth in franchise history.
As the best-of-five series gets underway, here are the three things that will decide the outcome of the matchup.
