The Washington Nationals remarkable postseason run continued this week. The Nationals completed a 4 game sweep of the NL Central Champion St. Louis Cardinals to advance to their first World Series in franchise history.
In May no one could have guessed that this would be the National League's representative in the Fall Classic, as the Nationals sat 12 games under .500 at 19-31. They had just lost their star outfielder Bryce Harper to the rival Philadephia Phillies on a $300 million contract in the offseason, trade rumors were swirling, and the job of manager Dave Martinez was in jeopardy.
Instead, the Nationals will give the city of Washington D.C. its first World Series appearance since 1933. A 7-4 victory over the Cardinals on Tuesday night assured the Wild Card- winning Nationals of their spot at history, and a chance to make more.
The Nationals went 74-38 down the stretch to secure a berth in the NL Wild Card Game against the Milwaukee Brewers. After coming from behind late to win the game 4-3, Washington stunned the class of the National League by defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in 5 games to win the NLDS and advance to the NLCS.
The Nationals never trailed in the NLCS against the Cardinals behind a dominant starting rotation, and the hot bats of Juan Soto, Anthony Rendon, and Howie Kendrick. Kendrick was named NLCS MVP after the win.
The Nationals will now wait to find out their travel plans, as they will travel to play either the Houston Astros or the New York Yankees starting next week depending on which team wins the ALCS.