SEATTLE (AP) — The Oakland Athletics clinched their first playoff berth in four years Monday night http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-bruce-rondon-jersey , earning at least an American League wild card when the Tampa Bay Rays lost to the New York Yankees.Following three straight last-place finishes in the AL West, the A’s found out just a couple of minutes after the first pitch of their game against Seattle that they are in the postseason for the first time since 2014.Tampa Bay’s 4-1 loss to the Yankees eliminated the Rays from playoff contention. Oakland still has an outside shot at overtaking Houston for the division title, but is more likely headed toward a wild-card matchup with the Yankees.The A’s could still host that game. They beat the Mariners 7-3 to remain 1½ games behind the Yankees for the top wild card.Few people imagined the A’s could make the playoffs this season, a young team with few proven stars after finishing 75-87 a year ago. Oakland won only 68 games in 2015 and 69 in 2016.The A’s have the third-lowest payroll among the 30 major league clubs at $78 million for their 40-man roster, ahead of only the White Sox and Rays.Oakland was 34-36 and 11 games behind Seattle in the wild-card race on June 15. The A’s have gone 61-26 since then.“We’ve had some younger players mature and become, for me, stars,” manager Bob Melvin said Monday. “I think the two guys on the corners (third baseman Matt Chapman and first baseman Matt Olson) should win Gold Gloves.“Our defense is night-and-day to what it was and it’s gotten better as the year’s gone along. We’ve gone from last year being one of the worst defenses in the league to now one of the best. Our bullpen has been a strength for us all year. We don’t just rely on one facet. We seem to be able to win in different ways.”Oakland designated hitter Khris Davis leads the majors with a career-high 46 home runs and has 120 RBIs. Davis has hit at least 40 homers and driven in more than 100 runs in each of this three seasons with the Athletics.Blake Treinen is 9-2 and one of the top closers in baseball this season with 37 saves and a 0.80 ERA, the lowest of all major league relievers with at least 75 innings pitched. Opponents have a .091 batting average against him with runners in scoring position.“It’s amazing,” Melvin said. “Not only is he doing it closing games, he’s doing it in games when we’re tied and he’s pitching two innings at times. The numbers are absolutely fantastic. I don’t know that I’ve seen numbers like that from any closer in quite some time. He’s meant a lot to this team.”The A’s are the only team in the majors with an undefeated record this season when leading after seven innings (68-0). They have the best record in one-run games at 31-13.Oakland made key moves to bolster the pitching staff via trades over the summer by adding veteran relievers Jeurys Familia and Fernando Rodney and starter Mike Fiers, who is 5-1 with a 2.90 ERA since joining the Athletics.The A’s overcame losing key starters from their rotation down the stretch. That included left-hander Sean Manaea, who pitched a no-hitter on April 21 against Boston and is now done for the year recovering from arthroscopic shoulder surgery that took place this past week.The Athletics are making their fourth playoff appearance in the last seven seasons (all under Melvin) and their 27th postseason appearance all-time. The A’s lost at Kansas City 9-8 in 12 innings in the 2014 wild-card game, the last time Oakland reached the postseason.The last time the A’s reached the World Series was 1990 Chris Beck Jersey , losing in four games to the Cincinnati Reds. Oakland won the 1989 World Series (which took place during the Bay Area earthquake) in four straight games over the San Francisco Giants. DENVER — Left-hander Kyle Freeland, the most consistent Colorado starter, will take the mound Thursday as the Rockies attempt to win their four-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks.Colorado second baseman DJ LeMahieu belted a two-run homer with one out in the ninth Wednesday — his first career walk-off hit — to give the Rockies a 5-4 victory, their second in this series.The Rockies (80-65) lead the National League West by 1 1/2 games over the Los Angeles Dodgers and 3 1/2 over the Diamondbacks. Arizona (77-69), losers of nine of its past 12 games, is four games back in the scramble for the second NL wild-card spot.Article continues below ...The Rockies, winners of eight of their past 11 games, are 20-9 in games started by Freeland (14-7, 2.91 ERA), who will be opposed by Clay Buchholz (7-2, 2.01) — a vital addition since joining the Arizona rotation in late May. He will be making his Coors Field debut.Freeland has been dominant there this season, going 8-2 with a 2.21 ERA in 13 starts. Freeland is 5-0, 2.03 in his past seven turns, all of which the Rockies have won.Freeland Miguel Gonzalez Jersey , a 25-year-old Denver native in his second full season in the majors, is 0-1 with a 4.96 ERA in three starts this season against the Diamondbacks, the last July 21, and 1-2, 4.60 against them in six career starts.“Kyle’s game stays pretty consistent,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “Command of the fastball (to) both sides of the plate. When he goes in, I think he’s got to elevate it a little bit with the fastball — belt high to the hands. Down and away with the fastball. The slider down underneath the right-handed swing. Mix in the change, keep them off balance with the change of velocities with the changeup. Preferably down and away with some action, which he’s very capable (of doing). Mix in a couple curveballs, which Kyle’s done a really good job this year of bringing that into his game. “Kyle’s game has become pretty consistent. It’s something Kyle should be proud of, the step that he made last year to where we are now.”Buchholz, 34, unable to find a big league job after last season, signed a minor league deal with Kansas City. He went 1-0 http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-tim-anderson-jersey , 1.59 with the Royals’ Triple-A Omaha affiliate and excercised the May 1 opt-out date in his contract and signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks.Arizona general manager Mike Hazen and several of his assistants were in the Red Sox front office when Buchholz signed with Boston after being drafted in the first round in 2005, and Arizona manager Torey Lovullo was a Boston coach when Buchholz pitched for the Red Sox.Buchholz threw a no-hitter Sept. 1, 2007, in his second major league start, went 17-7 with a 2.33 ERA in 2010 and made the Amerian League All-Star team. He was an all-star again in 2013 before enduring a succession of injuries.Buchholz made three minor league starts for the Diamondbacks before joining their rotation May 20. He missed a month with a left oblique strain but returned to the rotation July 24 and has gone 5-1, 1.66 in his past nine starts.Asked whether it’s more rewarding to be pitching as well as he has now as opposed to the outset of his career, Buchholz said, “Yeah, probably just for the simple fact that there were a lot of people that wrote me off, and I wasn’t ready to be done playing.”Said Hazen: “He’s been healthy, and I think you’re seeing the true pitcher emerge. He’s not the guy he used to be with pitches that everyone oohed and awed over at the time. Now you’re watching this guy really pitch. It’s fun to watch. He’s obviously shot above and beyond anything we could’ve hoped. I give a lot of credit to him. He’s one of the leaders of our clubhouse, and you just see the maturity every day with him.”Buchholz’s one career start against Colorado came in 2016, when he allowed six runs in five innings and took the loss.