After clinching the National League East title 9 days ago, the Washington Nationals have now secured home field advantage throughout the National League Playoffs by clinching the league's best overall record. The Nationals went into today knowing that they needed to win at least one of doubleheader games against the Miami Marlins today in order to clinch. They were able to take care of business in the first game behind a dominating 3 hit shutout from Doug Fister.
With the win Washington improved to 94-65 with just three games remaining in the season. There is still a chance that the Nationals could end the season tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in the National League, but in that case the Nationals would still hold the NL's best record because they won the season series between the two teams 4-2.
The Nationals are no strangers to strong regular season performances. They led the major leagues with 98 wins in 2012, but suffered a devastating let down as they were defeated by the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Divisional Series. However, the Nationals will go into this postseason with even more confidence. Their starting rotation has been strengthened into arguably the best rotation in all of baseball. Not to mention that ac Stephen Strasburg was shut down in 2012 before the playoffs even began. The Nationals lineup has also been hitting the ball extremely well, especially as of late. The Nationals have all the tools to represent the National League in the World Series, now it is up to them to execute and make it happen.