Morning Mound Visit: Rays clinch postseason berth

Daniel Russell | DRays Bay: The Tampa Bay Rays clinched a postseason berth for the third year in a row. This is the first time the Rays have gone to the playoffs in three consecutive years. Tampa Bay is also the first American League team to clinch as the other three teams to do so are the Giants, Dodgers, and Brewers.

Ben Clemens | FanGraphs: Mike Zunino may have a 35 percent strikeout rate, but he’s having the best offensive season of his career. Zunino isn’t just optimizing his skill set, he’s hitting everything better.

Russell Carleton | Baseball Prospectus $: As analysts, we tend to analyze in-game decisions as if they were Game Seven, but the reality is that the optimal strategy can’t be deployed at all times because, well, it’s a long season. Game Seventy requires a different strategy than “all hands on deck.”

Quick Hits

Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his 40th home run becoming the fifth Padre to reach the milestone.

The Rockies beat the Dodgers with the help of a three-run homer from Sam Hilliard.

The Yankees swept the Rangers and leapfrogged the Blue Jays in the AL Wild Card race.