Nats return home with lots on their side (Perez assigned to Yankees)

When the Nationals' team plane landed at Dulles Airport last night following the team's long 11-game road trip, there was a sign waiting for them on the tarmac.

"Congrats NL East Champs," it read.

When the team buses pulled up to Nationals Park about an hour later, there were a bunch of visitors waiting for them.

A group of probably close to 100 fans had congregated at the park, chanting and cheering and holding up signs to welcome their ballclub home.

It's good to be back in D.C., all right.

You could tell many players and coaches were truly appreciative that fans had taken time out of their Sunday evenings to come greet the team upon its arrival. The Nats left D.C. on Sept. 10 yet to have a playoff spot locked up. They returned division champions and are 2 1/2 games up on the Dodgers in the race for home field throughout the National League Championship Series.

It was a long trip from New York to Atlanta to Miami, with 11 games in 11 days, but the welcome home was surely appreciated. Matt Williams made sure to shake hands with every fan he saw waiting outside Nats Park and many players tweeted out their thanks to the raucous group.

The Nationals not only feel good about where they're at in the standings right now, they not only feel good about how they're playing overall after a 9-2 on that road trip, but they also have to feel good about the way they're pitching as the postseason approaches.

Here are a few numbers that indicate just how dominant the Nats hurlers were on the 11-game road trip: In that time, they posted a 1.67 ERA in 97 innings, struck out 63, walked just 12 (yeah, just 12 walks in 11 games) and allowed just 10 percent of inherited runners to score.

They allowed only three home runs the entire road trip, and saw their overall team ERA drop from 3.11 to 3.02, which is now far and away the best in the majors.

Nats starters went 9-1 on the trip, and the only loss by a Nationals starter went to Gio Gonzalez, who allowed four runs (three earned) over 6 2/3 innings to the Mets. Gonzalez walked just one and struck out seven that night, and it's not like he got hit all over the yard.

You want your team to be playing its best baseball going into the postseason. Seven games still separate the Nats from the playoffs, and then four days off will follow before the National League Division Series begins. But you couldn't ask for a whole lot more from this club.

The Nats are 32-15 since Aug. 3. Stephen Strasburg has a 1.34 ERA in his last five starts, with 33 strikeouts and two walks. Drew Storen has been lights out in the closer's role, picking up eight straight saves and allowing just five baserunners in that time.

Update: The Nats announced this afternoon that outfielder Eury Perez was assigned to the Yankees on a waiver claim.

Perez, 24, was designated for assignment last week to make room on the 40-man roster for Pedro Florimon, who was claimed off waivers from the Twins.

Perez went 2-for-13 in limited action with the Nats in 2012 and 2013, and batted .311/.372/.406 in 57 games at Triple-A Syracuse this season.