For the first time since 1933, there will be a World Series in the nation’s capital. And for the first time since the Nationals moved back to DC in 2005, they have won the NL pennant.
When Bryce Harper left for Philadelphia as a free agent last offseason, most people wrote off the Nationals as a team with not enough stars on offense and weak pitching beyond Max Scherzer and Stephen Strassburg. When the Nats started off 19-31 in a tight NL East, they were written off again.
After overcoming all odds and making it to the Wild Card Game, they fell behind 3-1 to the Brewers in the 8th inning. Although their season seemed to be over, they came back to win that game and advanced to the NLDS against the 106-win Dodgers. After falling behind in the series 2 games to 1, they managed to overcome the mighty Dodgers and advanced to the NLCS against a favored Cardinals team.
If anyone doubted the Nationals until now, the 4 game sweep of the Cardinals has proven that they are strong enough to take on any team in the American League. Washington led the entire series, scoring first in all 4 games, and letting up a minuscule 6 runs all together- 4 of them coming in the clinching Game 4 win.
After losing in the NLDS in 2012,’14,’16, and ’17 and never winning a playoff series, the Nats finally turned around years of heartbreak in DC. The 93 wins are the least by any of the Nationals 5 playoff teams, and their bullpen has one of the worst ERA’s in playoff history. None of that matters now as they await the winner of the Yankees/ Astros series and have plenty of time to rest and get their rotation in order.
