PHOENIX _ Austin Barnes shook his right fist toward the dugout. Kenley Jansen pointed his right hand to the sky.
The catcher and pitcher swaggered into each others' arms and were soon joined by a stream of sprinting, leaping teammates trying to storm their way into history.
These Dodgers have been here before, but never like this.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have marched into the National League Championship Series twice before during their current five-season postseason streak, but never with such quiet intensity and blunt force.
What was completed at Chase Field on Monday night was more than a sweep. It was a stampede. It was a steamrollering. Or it was, if you want to believe Yasiel Puig, an absolute licking.
It was the Dodgers defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-1, to win their National League division series three games to none. After their first sweep of any sort during the previous five autumns, they are now four wins from a World Series appearance that has eluded them for 29 years, and right now that seems like a very short leap indeed.
Speaking of leaps, they didn't swim in the Chase Field swimming pool Monday like they did when they clinched the first of their five consecutive division titles here in 2013. The Diamondbacks dispatched police horses to guard the structure, just in case.
But this time the Dodgers did something more compelling. They symbolically drained that pool, drop by drop, wearing down the Diamondbacks' pitchers with endless plate appearances, frustrating their hitters by refusing to surrender on the mound, even beating down their fans.
Yes, those were "Let's Go Dodgers" chants that ultimately swept the building as the Dodgers' swam only in champagne.
"This is a completely different team, and I think we have bigger goals than to jump into a swimming pool," manager Dave Roberts said earlier in this series, adding, "Our guys clearly understand what this team is about."
It was about reverting to the style of play that helped them win 52 out of 61 games at one point this summer. It was about rediscovering their focus, and bringing back the fun.
This was a Diamondbacks team with the third-most regular wins in the National League _ their 93 victories were one better than the Chicago Cubs _ yet in three games the Dodgers trailed for only three innings.
This was a Diamondbacks team that often seemed unsettled and overmatched.
"I don't think they're uptight, I just think we're a little frustrated because we haven't been playing Arizona Diamondbacks baseball," said Arizona manager Torey Luvullo before the game.
No, this was all about Dodgers baseball. Their offense touched the three Arizona starters for 11 runs in 10 1/3 innings, including a three-runs-and-five-walks in five innings embarrassment of former Dodger Zack Greinke in the clincher. Their pitching was so deep, the best starter was their third guy, Yu Darvish, who was brilliant Monday in giving up one run on two hits in five innings with seven strikeouts and no walks.
And then there was Roberts, whose dugout deftness has sometimes been lost in the glory grabbed by his players. On Monday, his bold philosophies were on full display, beginning with a seemingly controversial lifting of Darvish after he hit pinch-hitter Christian Walker in the helmet to lead off the sixth. At the time, the Dodgers led by two runs and Darvish had only thrown 74 pitches, and some shook their head when lefty Tony Cingrani entered the game.
But, sure enough, Cingrani induced lefty hitting David Peralta into a double-play grounder, at which point he was quickly pulled for righty Brandon Morrow, who proceeded to retire Ketel Marte on a grounder and then retire the heart of the Diamondbacks order in the seventh.
In came Kenta Maeda, who had appeared out of the bullpen only four times during a season in which he made 25 starts. But moved into a relief role during the postseason, he has shined, and he recorded a third scoreless appearance by retiring the side, setting up Jansen's three-out save.
The Dodgers will now move to a rematch with one of their playoff opponents from last season. Beginning Saturday at Dodger Stadium, they will host either the Chicago Cubs or Washington Nationals, whoever survives an NLDS currently led by the Cubs, two games to one.
The Dodgers defeated the Nationals in five taut games in last year's NLDS, then lost to the Cubs in the NLCS, but both teams seem vulnerable this season. Neither can match the Dodgers' depth in both lineup and pitching staff.
For sure, the Diamondbacks didn't come close, and while the Dodgers playoff power was perhaps unfamiliar to newer Dodger fans, it carried a feeling that longtime Los Angeles sports fans know well.
It was only three games, but it was filled with the dominance the Lakers displayed in 2001 in winning their first 11 playoff games during the height of their dynasty.
It was only a few days, but it contained the deep strength shown by the Kings in 2012, when they won 15 of their first 17 Stanley Cup playoff games as they burst into national prominence.
How bad was it here?
When Arizona reliever David Hernandez came into the game in the sixth inning, the stadium speakers rang with the rap lyrics, "As I walked in the valley of the shadow of death."
The Dodgers now proceed toward what they hope will be the valley of the shadow of history.
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