The Dodgers won their 9th division win in 10 seasons beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-0 at Chase Field on Tuesday, Sept 13. They are the first and fastest team to clinch their spot in the postseason.

Because they fell short behind the San Francisco Giants one game last year, the Dodgers wanted to win back the division. They ended up being a wild-card team which haunted them all winter and it gave them even more motivation to work harder. They still won the 2020 World Series even being the wild-card team.

“That was first on our list,” manager Dave Roberts said. “To get the division back in Los Angeles.”

The Dodgers were on ice for weeks since they were tied up for first place on June 22 with the San Diego Padres. Then it turned into a huge gap with a 19-game lead on Aug. 24.

With more than three weeks left of the season on Sept 13, they officially did and earned their division title. After winning 4-0 against the Arizona Diamondbacks they clinched the division title with 21 games left in the season. The Dodgers were the first team to secure their playoff spot.

Clayton Kershaw carried the team with seven scoreless innings, giving up just two hits while striking out five batters. This was his fourth start in a division-clinching game. In three of those games, he had shut down the opponents with a 0.30 ERA in those types of situations. This would be his 11th time being a part of a division-winning team.

In the second inning, Joey Gallo opened the scoring by hitting a two-run home run. In the third inning, Freddie Freeman added to the scoring by hitting a solo homer. Then after the Solo Homer from Max Muncy, the Dodgers started to celebrate. 

After winning the division title game the Dodgers drenched the visiting clubhouse with champagne and beer.

“It’s definitely not easy,” third baseman Justin Turner said.

Added Roberts: “One-hundred-forty-one games and we’ve clinched the division, it’s something we should enjoy and be proud of.”

The last time the Dodgers celebrated like this was back in 2019. It would’ve been 2020 but they didn’t celebrate with alcohol due to pandemic rules.

The Dodgers now shift their focus on winning more games to hopefully beat their season record of 106 wins and hopefully be the 2022 World Series Champs.