The Nationals were down 6-0 in the top of the third Sunday afternoon. It was hot. It was muggy. They’d already clinched at least a four-game weekend split with the Phillies. And it would’ve been easy at that moment to be content with that.

But when Trea Turner lined a two-out single to right field, Dylan Crews charged the ball and did what his baseball instincts told him to do, no matter the score. He fired the ball toward the plate, hoping to get it there in time to nab Harrison Bader, who was trying to score from second.

The throw was on time. It was on target. And it one-hopped perfectly into the mitt of Drew Millas, who applied a swipe tag just as Bader was trying to slide into the plate. Umpire Jacob Metz ruled him out, and the Nats ran off the field with a much-needed emotional boost.

“I think any moment, you’re just trying to find a spark to get everybody going,” Crews said. “Luckily, I was in a position to get a spark going and was able to get the guy out at home to flip over the inning. It could be anybody that could be that spark, and luckily I was there to help us with the momentum.”

The throw, clocked at 95.4 mph, was impossible to ignore.

“I had the perfect view, cause I was at third base,” teammate Brady House said. “I watched him from right field; it was a cannon. Obviously, I was seeing if they were trying to challenge it. But I knew he had gotten him out by a few steps. That was a great throw.”

And it indeed served as a momentum swing for the Nationals, who would proceed to score six runs in the bottom of third off Phillies starter Aaron Nola, storming all the way back from a 6-0 deficit to tie the game just like that.

The Nats did ultimately lose the game, 11-9, but they were still talking about Crews’ throw afterward and acknowledging the significance of that moment.

“It was unbelievable,” interim manager Miguel Cairo said. “What a throw that he made. It was kind of like that (boost of) energy. Every team is going to have one of those innings, with energy. And we did that. After that, we scored six runs. This is not the first time we’ve done that.”

Crews’ long-awaited return from an oblique strain that sidelined him nearly three months wasn’t necessarily spectacular. In four games over the weekend, he went 3-for-14 with a double, two RBIs, two walks and a stolen base.

But the production was meaningful, from a fifth-inning single and stolen base Saturday that set up James Wood’s game-winning double, to a two-run double of his own as part of Sunday’s six-run rally.

The 23-year-old still has a long way to go to live up to his billing as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 Draft, the guy who likely would’ve been No. 1 if not for former LSU teammate Paul Skenes. But he’s still only 80 games into his major league career (across two seasons) with 10 homers and 24 stolen bases on his resume, in addition to strong defensive play.

There was a chance Sunday for perhaps his biggest moment yet in the big leagues. The Nationals entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 11-6. They proceeded to get a three-run homer from Paul DeJong, then a double from Daylen Lile that brought Crews to the plate representing the tying run.

Facing Jhoan Duran, the intimidating former Twins and now Phillies closer, Crews fought off several tough pitches, ultimately seeing eight in total before hitting a grounder up the middle that served as the inning’s second out but did advance Lile to third. James Wood then struck out to end the game.

Disappointed as he was not to deliver in the moment, Crews also appreciated the challenge of his at-bat vs. an elite late-inning arm.

“It was fun. It’s what you dream of,” he said. “He’s one of the best closers in the league, if not the world. It’s a fun battle. Just trying to pass it on to the next guy. You never want to go down walking back to the dugout in a situation like that. So I really was just trying to move the ball as best as I could and pass it on to the next guy. Overall, it was a fun battle.”