The Nationals began their regular season at home against the New York Mets on March 28 and ended their regular season at home against the Cleveland Indians on September 29. They beat the Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card Game on October 1 and upset the two-time defending National League champions and 106 game winning Los Angeles Dodgers in five games in the Division Series, before advancing to the National League Championship Series for the first time since 1981, where they swept the St. Louis Cardinals. They won the pennant and advanced to the World Series for the first time in Nationals franchise history. This was also Washington, D.C.'s first appearance in the World Series since the American League's Senators in 1933. They proceeded to defeat the Houston Astros in seven games to capture the franchise's first World Series championship, and the first for Washington, D.C. since 1924. The Nationals also became just the second team to sweep their opponent in the League Championship Series since going to a best-of-seven format, and subsequently go on to win the World Series, the other team being the 1995 Atlanta Braves, and the first team in North American professional sports to win all road games in a playoff series when they prevailed over the Astros.