Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

Ryan Howard is a veteran when it comes to clubhouse celebrations.
So the Philadelphia Phillies’ slugging first baseman was well-prepared this time around, holding a smoldering cigar in his right hand and a tall can of beer in his left — and sporting a wide set of ski goggles to protect his eyes from the sting of champagne showers.

Howard also knows a fourth consecutive NL East title is not the end-all and be-all for these Phillies, who won the 2008 World Series and lost to the New York Yankees in the 2009 edition.
“If you’re not here to try to win a championship, you’re here for the wrong reasons,” said Howard, the 2006 NL MVP. “We feel like we kind of have some unfinished business and have taken the first step to … trying to right that ship.”

At 94-63 with five games remaining, Philadelphia clinched its division and assured itself of home-field advantage throughout the postseason — the NL won the All-Star Game, remember — by beating the last-place Washington Nationals 8-0 Monday night behind Roy Halladay’s two-hitter and Jayson Werth’s four RBIs.

“That’s the reason you want to come to a team like this. They know how to do it,” said Halladay, who earned his 21st win with his fourth shutout and ninth complete game, all highs in the majors this season. “It’s the coolest thing I’ve been a part of. It’s just the start, I think.”

That was a prevailing theme as the Phillies engaged in the usual beverage-spraying hijinks: This is great, but we want more.

“There’s a bigger picture here,” said Werth, who hit his 26th homer and added a single and double. “Now we can put this behind us after we celebrate this tonight. We’ve got a long way to go. We’ve got a long road. We know where we want to be. We know what happened last year; we haven’t forgot it. We know what’s at stake, and we’re looking forward to it.”

Halladay (21-10) will be on the big stage of the playoffs for the first time in his 13th major league season, having played his entire career with the Toronto Blue Jays before being traded to Philadelphia last winter.