Athletics Clinch 2014 Playoff Berth: Highlights, Twitter Reaction to Celebration

It took every bit of 162 games, but the Oakland Athletics are headed to the MLB playoffs for the third consecutive season.

The former owners of the best record in baseball just a couple of months ago blew their first shot at securing the AL wild-card slot Saturday. Oakland regrouped and took down the Texas Rangers 4-0 Sunday afternoon behind a complete-game shutout from ace Sonny Gray on the mound.    

The team celebrated the feat on Twitter:

MLB.com provides the final out of game No. 162:

MLB noted the lengthy journey for Gray and the rest of the roster:

The Athletics entered Sunday losers in eight of their last 12 and owners of one of the league's worst overall records since sitting comfortably in first place in the AL West and 11 games up in the wild-card race back in early August.

ESPN Stats & Info and the team's baseball information manager, Mike Selleck, provided further details:

All that matters now is that Bob Melvin's team is headed to Kansas City for an encounter with the Kansas City Royals, an organization that finally ended its 29-year playoff drought.

For a brief moment, the focus turned to the accomplishment after a nail-biting season. Nannette Miranda of NBC Bay Area and the team captured the beginning of Sunday's festivities:

One particular focal point during the celebration was 14-year veteran Adam Dunn, who has yet to taste postseason play in his 2,001 career games. Until now, that is.

Joe Stiglich of CSNBayArea.com captured the moment:

Soon, though, the focus will fall on pitcher Jon Lester, who joined the team in exchange for slugger Yoenis Cespedes earlier in the season. He made a point to take the initiative Sunday, as captured by Jane Lee of MLB.com:

Melvin also took control of the proceedings at one point to speak to his team and, perhaps more importantly, to stress that fans have not been alone in their frustrations over the rough waters the ship traversed in the latter portion of the season:

The team's Twitter account provided more from the celebration:

The postseason berth may not be as historic as the opposition's come Tuesday, but the feeling is surely much of the same as the two prepare to put forth their best in an effort to advance to a series with the Los Angeles Angels.

There, Lester will take the mound and hope his consistency against the Royals (9-3, 1.84 ERA) nullifies the rocky momentum the team as a whole brings to the hostile environment.

For now, though, three consecutive postseason appearances is certainly something to celebrate.

Stats and info via MLB.com unless otherwise specified.