PHOENIX (AP) \u2014 As the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated their 12th NL West title in 13 years, Clayton Kershaw thought about participating in a division championship for the final time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what I\u2019m going to miss,\u201d the left-hander said after Thursday\u2019s 8-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a>. \u201cPitching is great and I love that, too, but getting to do this with a group of guys, all working for a collective goal, the camaraderie, that\u2019s really special.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t get that anywhere else. There\u2019s no jobs where 37-year-olds get to do that. But I\u2019m good, I had a great run.\u201d<\/p>\n An 11-time All-Star and three-time Cy Young Award winner, Kershaw said last week he will retire<\/a> at the end of the postseason. He won the first of 14 division titles as a rookie in 2008.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a lot of fun then and it\u2019s a lot of fun now,\u201d Kershaw said of the celebration.<\/p>\n While the Dodgers celebrated their 2013 division title by jumping into the Chase Field pool behind the right-field wall, they avoided the water this time \u2014 except when Shohei Ohtani hit a splash shot<\/a> for his 54th home run.<\/p>\n \u201cWinning the division title, you can never take it for granted,\u201d said Freddie Freeman, who homered twice Thursday. \u201cWe feel like we\u2019re really starting to click.\u201d<\/p>\n Los Angeles, which reached 90 wins for its 12th straight full season, will play in a wild card series for the first time since the best-of-three round was added in 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cYou only play this game for so long, so you only get so many opportunities to do this,\u201d Mookie Betts said. \u201cI feel great. I really didn\u2019t do anything the first half of the season, so I got plenty of rest and I\u2019m just happy to help.\u201d<\/p>\n Dave Roberts has reached the playoffs in all 10 years as Dodgers manager, nine times as a division winner. LA won the World Series last season, beating the Yankees in five games.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was expected. We got it done, maybe a little bit later than we hoped. But I\u2019m happy with the way we\u2019re playing,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI do think we\u2019re better for all the adversity and we\u2019re playing our best baseball right now, What we\u2019ve done before, nothing matters. It\u2019s more about trusting each other and playing for a championship.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n