The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the National League West title on Thursday night, their first since 2009.

Three months ago, the Dodgers were in last place.

"I want to keep going," Hanley Ramirez said. "I think that we've got a couple of more steps to do. We've got to keep working and stay together all the way through to the end."

Ramirez has played 1,090 regular-season games but will be making his first trip to the postseason. Only three active players have played more games without making the playoffs.

"I'm a guy that doesn't show a lot of emotion," Don Mattingly said. "I really try to keep it kind of even. But this is a great accomplishment for these guys. We put a great team together and a big payroll with huge expectations. A lot of time that falls apart and it had a chance to fall apart during the season, I thought.

"But the coaching staff stuck together. These guys were loyal to me. There was no backbiting or somebody trying to leap over me. They stuck together. ... The players came together, we got healthy, and then we just rolled."