The Washington Nationals clinched their third NL East division title in the last five seasons with Saturday night’s win over the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies’ victory over the New York Mets in Citi Field.

Sunday afternoon in LA, the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied to tie it late and beat the Colorado Rockies in extras to secure their fourth straight NL West title.

That sets up a National League Division Series between the Nationals and Dodgers, though home field advantage in the NLDS is still up for grabs.

The Chicago Cubs, who have the best record in the National League, will meet the NL Wild Card winner in one NLDS matchup which will start in Wrigley Field and the Nats and Dodgers will meet in either LA or D.C. next Friday night (October 7th).

The Dodgers took the season series with the Nationals, with wins in five of six games the two teams played, three straight in Dodger Stadium and two of the three played in the nation’s capital.

The Nationals, however, currently own a 1.5-game lead in the standings and have a magic number of six to secure home field advantage in the Division Series with seven games remaining on the regular season schedule.

If the Nationals are able to maintain that advantage over the final week of the season, during which they face Arizona (4) and Miami (3) in Nationals Park, the NLDS will open on October 7th in D.C.

Bryce Harper talked with MASN’s Dan Kolko, after the Nationals clinched the division on Saturday, about what was special about this team that allowed them to make it back to the postseason.

“I think we’ve got a great mix of veteran guys, got a great mix of veteran guys and we all work well together,” Harper said.

“Everybody is pulling on the same rope and that’s what you want.”

Dusty Baker told reporters this weekend that he hoped his veterans could guide the Nationals’ young stars through the weeks ahead.

“They know what playoff baseball is about, the intensity, the excitement,” Baker said.

“Hopefully they can convey that to some of the young players, cause once the game starts, you can’t think about any of those: intensity and the crowd. You can’t think of anything other than just playing baseball.”

NLDS Schedule:

Game 1: Friday, October 7th - FOLLOW: (Fox Sports 1/MLB Network)

Game 2: Saturday, October 8th - FOLLOW: (Fox Sports 1 or MLB Network)

Game 3: Monday, October 10th - FOLLOW: (Fox Sports 1 or MLB Network)

Game 4*: Tuesday, October 11th - FOLLOW: (Fox Sports 1)

Game 5*: Thursday, October 13th - FOLLOW: (Fox Sports 1)

[ed. note - “ * = if necessary.”]