World Series bound

Wild-card Nationals sweep series from Cardinals

WASHINGTON — It was merely the first inning, yet fans kept rising out of their seats to applaud or yell or twirl their red towels, to chant “Let’s go, Nats!” and “M-V-P!” and various players’ names, enjoying every moment of a seven-run outburst that would, eventually, propel their city to its first World Series appearance in 86 years.

And then, a couple of hours and several innings later, as the Washington Nationals were protecting a shrinking lead, those same spectators, 43,976 strong, stood and shouted and reveled some more Tuesday night, giddily counting down the outs needed to finish off an NL Championship Series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.

From 19-31 during a mediocre May to the Fall Classic in an outstanding October.

Extending their stunning turnaround, the wild-card Nationals got RBIs from middle-of-the-order stars Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto in that breakout first inning, and Patrick Corbin’s 12-strikeout performance and a trio of

relievers helped hold on to beat St. Louis 7-4 in Game 4 of a lopsided best-of-seven NLCS.

“Often, bumpy roads lead to beautiful places,” manager Dave Martinez said, “and this is a beautiful place.”

Now NLCS MVP Howie Kendrick and his teammates get plenty of time to rest and set up their rotation before beginning in a week against the Houston Astros or New York Yankees. Houston leads the best-of-seven AL Championship Series 2-1 after winning Game 3 at New York 4-1 Tuesday.

“You only learn how to win through mistakes and failures,” Kendrick said. “All those failures paid off today.”

The last time the World Series came to the nation’s capital was 1933, when the Washington Senators lost to the New York Giants in five games. The lone baseball championship for the city was in 1924, when the Senators defeated the Giants.

The Senators eventually left D.C., which didn’t have a team at all for more than three decades until the Montreal Expos — who were founded in 1969 and never made it to the World Series — moved to Washington in 2005. The Nationals had never managed to advance in the postseason since arriving, going 0-4 in the NLDS over the last seven years.

But this month alone they beat the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL wild-card game after trailing 3-1 heading to the eighth, and eliminated the Los Angeles Dodgers in a dramatic Game 5 in the NL Division Series after trailing 3-1 heading to the eighth again. Then came this lopsided dismissal of the Cardinals, who were outscored 20-6 in the series.

The Nationals became the fourth team to reach the World Series after being 12 games under .500.

AP/Patrick Semansky Washington Nationals’ Yan Gomes and Daniel Hudson celebrate Tuesday after Game 4 of the National League Championship Series in Washington. The Nationals won 7-4 to win the series 4-0.

AP/PATRICK SEMANSKY Washington Nationals’ Juan Soto hits an RBI double during the first inning of Game 4 Tuesday.