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Game 1 starter Alek Manoah ready to tackle Game 1 pressure

Blue Jays starting pitcher Alek Manoah.
Blue Jays starting pitcher Alek Manoah. Photo by John E. Sokolowski /USA TODAY Sports

Much as he does when on the mound, rare is the day that Alek Manoah doesn’t deliver with a line to punctuate the confidence he brings to his craft.

“I’ve had some coaches who have said pressure is what you put in your tires,” Manoah said when asked how he intends to deal with the magnitude of the moment when he gets the start for Friday’s opener of  best-of-three wildcard series against the Seattle Mariners.

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“This is just baseball. Just have to go out there and have some fun.”

It’s a little more than that, of course, but the Rogers Centre should be rocking to the first post-season action here since 2016. And as he does, Manoah is ready to take centre stage.

Just as he was in his first career all-star appearance in the summer and every big moment he has started.

“He feels like he’s been ready for this moment since he signed,” Jays manager John Schneider said of the team’s 2019 first-round draft pick. “You can’t really say enough about the season and the September that he’s had.

“He lives for moments like this. Embraces everything that comes with it but keeps the task at hand in the forefront.”

Manoah covers the Toronto end of a delicious pitching matchup as the Mariners counter with Luis Castillo. The 6-foot-6, 285-pound Manoah feels he’s up for the challenge – as always.

“For me personally, I just kind of let the emotions go and let the adrenaline run,” said Manoah, who was 16-7 with a skimpy 2.24 in a season that seemed to get better the deeper it went. “I truly feel that’s when I’m at my best.

“This is what we work for – what we’ve been doing our whole life. I know how to play baseball more than I know how to do anything in this world.”

Meanwhile, the Jays are undecided about who they will send out for Saturday’s Game 2 to face former Toronto starter and reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, Robbie Ray.

Kevin Gausman, who cut his finger in his final regular season start, is the logical choice and the right-hander pronounced himself fit after throwing a bullpen session on Wednesday.

“All good,” Gausman said.. “Finger’s good to go.  I don’t make those decisions. Once the post-season get here, you’ll throw when they tell you to throw.”

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