Nationals secure home-field advantage in NLDS

With a 3-2 victory over the New York Mets on Sunday afternoon, the Washington Nationals clinched home-field advantage for the 2017 National League Division Series.

Game 1 is scheduled for Oct. 6. No times have been announced.

The Nationals' opponent in that series has yet to be determined, but it's more than likely that as holders of the second-best record in the Senior Circuit they'll host the NL Central champions. Currently the Chicago Cubs are 4 1/2 games up on Milwaukee, with a magic number of four to clinch that crown and earn a trip to the nation's capital.

If the Nationals and Cubs have identical records at season's end, Washington will still get home field by virtue of winning the season series 4-3, according to Mark Zuckerman of MASN.

Washington has owned home-field advantage in each of its three prior division series appearances since 2012, including last October against the Dodgers. That edge hasn't helped the club, however, as the Nationals franchise has yet to win a playoff series since moving to the District of Columbia. The team has twice been eliminated in a decisive NLDS Game 5 at Nationals Park, first in 2012 and again last October.

The Nationals/Montreal Expos franchise, established in 1969, has never made the World Series and owns but a single playoff series victory while known as the Expos in 1981. Fans in Washington, D.C. haven't seen their team win a playoff round since 1924, when the original Senators won their only World Series title.