Bryce Harper Celebrates With 9-Year-Old After Nationals Clinch NL East With Braves Loss

by Doug Kyed on Mon, Oct 1, 2012 at 11:15PM

While Washington fans will be celebrating Monday night, baseball fans north of the border may be in mourning.

It took 31 years and a move to a different country, but the Washington Nationals are finally NL East champions once again.

The Nats clinched the division title despite a loss to the Phillies when the second-place Braves lost to Pittsburgh 2-1. It's the Washington-Montreal franchise's first NL East crown since 1981, when the then-Expos went on to lose to the Dodgers in the NLCS three games to two.

While the rest of Bryce Harper's teammates celebrated the achievement with champagne, the 19-year-old slugger partied with Adam LaRoche's 9-year-old son, Drake according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. The underage duo sprayed apple cider, rather than champagne.

The Nationals will need to move through the postseason without their young ace Stephen Strasburg, who's been shut down thanks to an innings limit. The team is still in good hands with Cy Young candidate Gio Gonzalez and the rest of their strong pitching rotation: Jordan Zimmermann, Ross Detwiler and Edwin Jackson.

The Nationals may not have any fans in Canada, but they're an underdog story that anyone else can root for.