The Tampa Bay Rays won their 98th game of the season on Wednesday night, clinching the American League's No. 1 seed in the process.
Tampa set a franchise record with the win, topping the mark (97) set in 2008.
The Rays are now guaranteed home-field advantage through the first two rounds of the postseason.
The St. Louis Cardinals clinched a National League Wild Card berth on Tuesday night with their 17th straight victory.
"Well, it starts with perseverance. I mean, it starts there," Adam Wainwright said. "We had to overcome probably the worst baseball I've ever seen a Cardinals team play. We just weren't doing anything right. … It was just understanding that we're a better team than what we were showing and we could go out there and compete with anybody when we play right.
"And that's what we did."
The Tampa Bay Rays clinched a second-straight American League East title over the weekend.
Overall, it's the fourth division title for the franchise.
The Rays are 97-59, which means they've tied the franchise record for wins in a season with six games left in the regular season.
The Milwaukee Brewers clinched their second National League title in four years with an 8-4 win over the New York Mets on Sunday.
"It's a great accomplishment for this organization, for this team," Josh Hader said. "We had a lot of ups and downs, but that's part of this baseball team. Each one of these guys, they fight for each other. That's what it's about."
Craig Counsell often describes the team as resilient.
"We never give up," Hader said. "Think about this week. We got swept by the Cardinals and turned around and swept the Mets. That's what it comes down to, not getting down on ourselves and continue to play at the level we can."
Milwaukee is 94-62, winning 90-plus games for the ninth time in franchise history.
The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Chicago Cubs 4-2 on Sunday, extending their winning streak to 16 games.
The streak is the longest in franchise history and has allowed the Cardinals to take control of the National League Wild Card race.
The Cardinals' winning streak is also the longest in the majors since Cleveland took 22 in a row in 2017, and the best in the National League since the New York Giants won 16 straight in 1951 on their way to an improbable pennant.
The Tampa Bay Rays are headed to the playoffs, but they have loftier goals.
They clinched a berth with Wednesday's 7-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays at Tropicana Field.
"We're in the postseason. That's great. We're all excited about that," Brandon Lowe said. "But to say that we don't have bigger aspirations in that clubhouse, we'd be lying to everybody. We have our eyes on something else … and we'll celebrate when we do what we want to do."
The Rays are the first team in the American League to secure a spot in this year’s postseason field.
Chasing the San Francisco Giants in the National League West, the Los Angeles Dodgers have clinched their ninth consecutive postseason appearance.
The Giants were the first club in Major League Baseball to lock up a berth.
The Dodgers trail the Giants by 2 1/2 games in the division.
The San Francisco Giants topped the San Diego Padres on Monday night for their eighth consecutive victory.
In the process they became the first Major League club to clinch a playoff berth this season.
They have the best record in baseball (94-50) with 18 games remaining.
"This is a pretty focused and even-keeled team," Gabe Kapler said. "You have quite a few World Series champions in that room and people who understand that this is one step in the direction that we want to go, but not the ultimate goal."
Milwaukee ace Corbin Burnes combined with reliever Josh Hader to pitch baseball's record ninth no-hitter this season, breaking a mark set when pitchers began throwing overhand in 1884 as the Brewers beat the Cleveland Indians 3-0 on Saturday night.
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