Until winning the National League pennant in 2019, Washington, D.C., had not hosted another World Series game since 1933. In 2012, the Washington Nationals, formerly the Montreal Expos, brought postseason play back to Washington for the first time in 79 years but lost the National League Division Series (NLDS) after being one strike away from eliminating the St. Louis Cardinals after their early 6–0 lead had evaporated. In 2019, the Nationals won their first postseason series since their move—the Wild Card Game, NLDS, and NLCS—as their October stints in 2014, 2016, and 2017 had all ended in NLDS losses. (While in Montreal, the franchise made only one postseason appearance, winning the 1981 NLDS that was created due to that season's players' strike, then losing the 1981 NLCS.) The 2019 Nationals went on to win the World Series, which ended a 95-year championship drought for the city, dating back to the Senators' win in .