TORONTO -- The result of Sunday’s game had no influence on the standings. Regardless of what happened in Game 162, the Rays had their bags packed and were ready to head to Oakland after the game to begin preparing for the American League Wild Card Game on Wednesday.

But while Sunday’s 8-3 loss to the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre didn’t mean much -- if anything -- to the Rays, there were still things to watch for that could impact the way Tampa Bay leans when filling out its 25-man roster against the A’s.

• Box score

“I know they’re excited,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said, despite the loss. “Lot of thoughts going through people’s minds, certainly mine. But we’ve earned the right to be excited after a loss. That doesn’t happen very often. It’ll be fun.”

Let’s take a look at three takeaways from Sunday’s season finale.

1. Snell’s final regular-season start
After putting together one of the most impressive seasons in franchise history in 2018, Blake Snell had an up-and-down 2019 season. It was a campaign that featured some inconsistencies, and a pair of injuries didn’t help the left-hander get into much of a rhythm.

Sunday was his third start since he returned from the injured list on Sept. 17, and there were some positives and some negatives in the outing. The positive was that Snell was able to go 2 1/3 innings and throw 62 pitches, his most since returning. He also felt that he got stronger as he got deeper in the game.

“The curveball got better and I’m really happy about that,” Snell said. “I just want to get deeper. Everything was kind of hit or miss today, but I like how I wrapped it up. I got better with the curveball.”

The negative was that Snell wasn’t in the strike zone consistently enough. Of his 62 pitches, just 37 landed for strikes. He allowed two runs on three hits and issued two walks. In his three starts since returning, Snell allowed three runs over six innings.

“My biggest frustration was throwing strikes,” Snell said. “But I felt really comfortable toward the end, and I felt like I was getting stronger, and I was more happy with that. Just have to continue to throw strikes. There’s a lot to take from it, but definitely happy with how I wrapped up.”

Snell will likely not pitch in Wednesday’s Wild Card Game, but he will be leaned on heavily if the team makes it to the AL Division Series with a win over the A’s. Cash knows that Snell’s first three outings since injuries haven’t gone smoothly, but he is confident that he will perform better in the postseason, if given the opportunity.

“I got the feeling that Blake, if we get an opportunity to pitch him again, he’s going to find a second gear,” Cash said. “He’s capable of doing that.”

2. Diaz makes his return
Yandy Díaz returned to the lineup for the first time since July 22 and put together a couple of solid at-bats. Díaz went 0-for-3 in his return, but he dealt with some bad luck.

Díaz hit leadoff and opened the game with a 107.3-mph rocket off the bat, but it was caught by Breyvic Valera at third base. In his next at-bat, Díaz fouled off a couple of Clay Buchholz two-strike pitches before hitting a liner to left fielder Teoscar Hernández. Díaz hit the ball 101.5 mph off the bat.

“I felt good,” Diaz said. “The important part was that I had confidence in myself and my swing and wasn’t thinking about the pain in my foot, and it went well.”

The Rays will have to make a decision about Díaz during the playoffs, but they hope that he can be a right-handed-hitting option for them. Despite not being able to see how Diaz looked on the basepaths, Sunday served as a positive day.

“Yandy looked pretty good at the plate,” Cash said. “I liked Yandy's swing. Short.  We've got some decisions we have to make."

3. Chirinos out of the bullpen
Like Snell, Yonny Chirinos made his third appearance since his stint on the injured list. In his last outing against the Yankees, Chirinos allowed just one run over three really efficient innings.

His outing on Sunday, however, wasn’t as crisp, as Chirinos allowed four runs -- including two home runs -- over 2 2/3 innings. Chirinos was around the zone, as 27 of his 38 pitches were strikes, but struggled to locate his pitches.

The right-hander also saw his velocity dip, and he averaged just 91.4 mph on Sunday. Chirinos said it’s likely that the cold played a factor in that. He struggled to find feeling in his fingers during his bullpen session, and that translated onto the field.

“The body feels good,” Chirinos said. “The season is over, and now the mind is just more focused on the postseason. I just want to help the team in whatever situation they put me in.”

Chirinos isn’t built up enough to be a regular postseason starter for the Rays, and it’s unlikely that he pitches on Wednesday against the A’s, so it’ll be interesting to see what his role could be if the Rays make it to the AL Division Series against the Astros.

“There’s a lot to discuss,” Cash said. “We have a lot of good players. You want to make the best decisions to help you win that one game. But there’s players putting pressure on those decisions in every angle, in a good way."