LOS ANGELES - The Dodgers clinched their first NL West championship in four years Thursday without lifting a bat.

Entering the day with a magic number of one, the Dodgers got what they needed when the second-place Arizona Diamondbacks lost 12-3 at St. Louis in the afternoon. That was several hours before Los Angeles faced the San Diego Padres in its final home game of the regular season.

Manny Ramirez found out the Dodgers officially qualified for the playoffs from a reporter after he entered an elevator to the team's clubhouse with teammate Pablo Ozuna about an hour after the Diamondbacks lost.

“It's good, but it's just the first step,” said Ramirez, who has played so well since joining the Dodgers less than two months ago that there's been MVP talk. “We're happy, but we're not going to go crazy about it. The goal is to go to the big dance, the World Series. This is not a championship yet.

“Not a lot of players get a chance to go to the playoffs in their career. I've been blessed. You want to win it all. That's when you get that feeling you can't describe, like we had in Boston.”

The Red Sox won their first World Series in 86 years in 2004, with Ramirez winning the MVP award, and won it again last year. But Ramirez wanted out a few months back, and got his wish, being sent to the Dodgers at the trade deadline.

“The sky's the limit. You never know,” he said of the Dodgers' chances. “We're a pretty good team. Anything can happen.”

The Dodgers have won just one postseason game since winning the World Series 20 years ago, going 1-12 in four playoff appearances. They'll face either the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies or New York Mets on the road to begin the first round next week.