Over in the National League, the Padres took care of business and swept the Atlanta Braves to secure their NLDS berth against the NL West rival Dodgers. The Mets, meanwhile, won their first playoff series since they made the World Series since 2015.

As we get deeper into the MLB playoffs, the series get longer, the pressure increases -- and each team's biggest strengths and weaknesses are highlighted even more. With that in mind, we have identified eight key components of October baseball that will shape the rest of the postseason,