LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers waited nearly eight hours to express themselves after clinching their first NL West championship in four years. They made up for the delay with a wild celebration on the field and in the clubhouse.

"We're not done yet. We have an objective," champagne-soaked pitcher Chad Billingsley said. "It's just been a great year, with all we've gone through."

The Dodgers clinched the title without lifting a bat. Entering the day with a magic number of one, they got what they needed when the second-place Arizona Diamondbacks lost, 12-3, at St. Louis in the afternoon.

"It's fine with me we don't have to do it on the field," first-year Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "I'm just happy we did it. I'm very proud of this team. Going to the playoffs never gets old."

Several hours later, Brian Giles and Adrian Gonzalez homered, and Luis Rodriguez had four hits to lead San Diego to a meaningless 7-5 victory over the Dodgers in their final home game of the regular season.

"It's always nice to celebrate, it doesn't matter how long you wait," infielder Nomar Garciaparra said.

Nearly a half-hour after the game ended, Torre toured the area near the Dodgers' dugout slapping hands with several of the fans who stayed for the celebration. A bit earlier, catcher Russell Martin sprayed many of those same fans with champagne and was joined on the field by Manny Ramirez among others.

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt was in the middle of things in the clubhouse, being drenched by several players.

"I'm happy because of all we went through this season," McCourt said. "It was a battle, with all the injuries. At the end of the day, this is all about the fans. They stuck with us through the entire year, and we were scuffling for a while. It was a fantastic finish."

Torre guided the New York Yankees to four World Series titles and 12 playoff appearances in as many years before leaving the team last fall. He was then hired by the Dodgers, signing a three-year $13 million contract.