Phillies clinch 2nd straight NL East title with 6-5 win over Dodgers in 10 innings

A bare-chested Bryce Harper poured a bottle of Champagne over his head, soaking in the Philadelphia Phillies’ second consecutive NL East title.

Kyle Schwarber celebrated by chugging beer out of a hose as his teammates fed the contraption in the middle of a darkened visitors’ clubhouse after the Phillies rallied for a wild 6-5 victory in 10 innings over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night.

“You’ve got to enjoy this,” Schwarber said later, puffing on a fat cigar. “This doesn’t happen all the time.”

The Phillies hope it keeps happening all the way through October as they chase the franchise’s third World Series crown and first since 2008.

“We’re playing really good baseball right now and just got to keep going and keep understanding we’ve got a bigger picture,” Harper said. “We’ve got things on our mind that we want to win.”

Philadelphia had just one hit — Schwarber’s 53rd homer — until the seventh inning. But then Weston Wilson and Harper homered as Philly rallied against the defending World Series champions.

“They’re just tough and they’re resilient,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said about his team. “They just keep fighting and I’m proud of them. This is a really special group.”

It was the earliest division clinch in Phillies history, two days sooner than the 2011 team that won the NL East on Sept. 17. This squad got it done in Game 151, second-fastest behind those 2011 Phillies who did it in Game 150.