As the latter stages of Thursday night’s game was playing out, Cole Henry started to get the sense he was going to be the man holding the ball for the top of the ninth.

With interim manager Miguel Cairo using new closer Jose A. Ferrer to face the heart of the Phillies lineup with a one-run lead in the eighth, Henry was told by bullpen coach Ricky Bones to prep himself to pitch the ninth for the first time in his career.

“I was just preparing mentally,” the rookie reliever said. “And hopefully whenever they call the phone, it was gonna be me to do it.”

A few tense minutes later, Henry was pounding his glove in celebration, his teammates gathering at the mound as the stadium lights at Nationals Park turned red to commemorate the team’s 3-2 victory, the 26-year-old having notched his first career save in the process.

It wasn’t a perfectly clean inning. Henry surrendered a leadoff single to Max Kepler, then saw him advance to third base on a sacrifice bunt and a ground ball to the right side. That left the tying run 90 feet with Trea Turner at the plate. With the crowd standing, Henry won an eight-pitch battle with the former Nats star shortstop, striking him out on a sinker that ran way in on his hands and left Turner helplessly flailing at it.

This wasn’t the first time Henry pitched in a late-game, high-leverage situation. He’s ascended to a setup role over the course of his first big league season. But this was the first time he was asked to close out a win, and that assignment carried far more weight than any previous one.

“Yeah, it feels a lot different, I think just that first time going out there,” he said. “Maybe next time there will be a little less nerves. But, no, it was awesome. I kind of tried to use the adrenaline surge and stuff to my advantage. And just keep my legs under me, breathe and just trust my stuff.”

Cairo reversed his recent late-game bullpen strategy by deploying the left-handed Ferrer against Harper and the tougher portion of the Phillies lineup before then turning to Henry. There was no hesitation on his part to entrust the ninth to the rookie right-hander.

“Cole has been amazing,” Cairo said. “He’s been doing an excellent job as someone you can rely on. With his history before – injuries and stuff like that – of course I want to be careful with him. But he showed us yesterday that he can do it in any leverage, in any inning. We’ve just got to find the best place for him to succeed. That’s the whole point of everything: Make sure he’s in the best spot to succeed.”

The Nationals’ second-round pick in the 2020 draft, Henry was long touted as a top starting prospect within the organization. But a shoulder injury in 2022 led to thoracic outlet surgery and a struggle to ever get back to full health with a starter’s workload.

He reported to spring training this year having thrown only 128 1/3 career innings in the minors when the club informed him he was going to convert to the bullpen. That move has resurrected his career, with Henry making 47 big appearances this season, producing a 3.65 ERA and keeping himself available to pitch as much as any other reliever.

Little could he have known at the time it would lead up to Thursday night’s game, when he found himself closing out a tense win over a first-place opponent.

“After the past few years, it just means a little extra to me,” Henry said. “Getting moved to the bullpen this spring training, I just kind of dreamed of something like this. And so it was just really cool to go out there and do it and shut it down for the first time. And hopefully we can keep doing it.”

MASNsports.com’s Bobby Blanco contributed to this report