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Baker says Nats 'not done yet' after winning NL East

Charles LeClaire / USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH - Dusty Baker couldn't help but smile as he watched his players pour champagne and beer on each other.

The Washington Nationals clinched their third National League East title in five years on Saturday night. They beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1 and watched on TV in the clubhouse as the New York Mets were eliminated from the division race 20 minutes later with a 10-8 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Then the party started.

''Let the animals run wild, and they are certainly running wild tonight,'' said Baker, the Nationals' first-year manager. ''I love it. Look at them. These are the wildest I've ever seen.''

The Nationals were seemingly not only celebrating a division title but releasing pent-up frustration that remained from a disappointing 2015 season.

The Nationals were considered by many to be World Series favorites after signing right-hander Max Scherzer to a seven-year, $210-million contract in free agency the previous winter. They not only missed the playoffs, but then-closer Jonathan Papelbon choked right fielder Bryce Harper during a late-season dugout argument.

''We were all (upset),'' Scherzer said. ''Because we had a team we knew was capable of winning and winning in the postseason, winning in October. I believe we have that team again.''

Manager Matt Williams was fired at the end of last season and replaced by Baker, who had 20 years of experience managing the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds.

Out of the game for two years after being fired by the Reds following the 2013 season, the 67-year-old Baker has been questioned at times for his handling of the pitching staff. But he has provided a steady hand.

''This is the first step in a four-step process,'' Baker said ''We want to do this three more times, then hopefully be the world champions. We're not done yet.''

The Nationals have never reached the World Series during the franchise's 47-year history that began in 1969 as the Montreal Expos before the team relocated to Washington in 2005.

''It was more of a team effort,'' Nationals right fielder Jayson Werth said. ''It was everybody. Everybody contributed. You can look at everybody on the team and say that guy's the reason why we're here."

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