NEW YORK – The circus catch in the bottom of the fifth was going to be the highlight of Jacob Young’s day. Shoot, the highlight of his season.

Until the Nationals center fielder found a way to make an even more meaningful catch in the bottom of the ninth.

Maybe the degree of difficulty wasn’t as high, but the magnitude of the moment far exceeded the previous one when Young leaped at the center field wall at Citi Field and robbed Francisco Alvarez of what would’ve been a game-tying homer, helping secure the Nats’ 3-2 victory over the Mets on Sunday afternoon.

“JY shows why he’s the most exciting center fielder in the game,” teammate Jake Irvin said.

On a day in which there was zero margin for error, Young twice saved the Nationals with his glove and twice crushed the souls of the Mets and their sellout crowd.

For sheer audacity, the fifth inning play rose above anything else this team has seen all year long. When Brett Baty drove a pitch from Irvin to straightaway center field, Young could only attempt a leaping grab as he braced for impact at the wall. He got his glove on the ball, but it popped out as he struck the fence. So the former youth soccer player did the only thing he could think to do in the moment to try to salvage the play: He kicked the ball back up into the air with his right foot, then stuck his glove out and snagged it.

“I tried to kick it, I think more instinctively than actually trying,” he said. “As a kid or as a person, you just never let the ball hit the ground. It was just reaction. Somehow, I kicked it right back to me. So I’ll give credit to my AAU soccer coach.”

The look on Young’s face suggested even he couldn’t believe what he had just done. He, along with everyone else in the park, couldn’t wait to watch the replay on the giant center field scoreboard to see how exactly he pulled it off.

“He made the best play I’ve ever seen in person,” said Irvin, whose jaw dropped as he watched from the mound. “Probably just ever seen in general.”

Four innings later, with Mitchell Parker now on the mound attempting to complete a 3 2/3-inning save in the first relief appearance of his professional career, Young did it again, racing back to the wall and robbing Alvarez of what was about to be a game-tying homer.

“Once you get close enough, you’ve got to jump and hope,” he said. “I’m just happy it stayed in my glove once I hit that black fence.”

It was an all-time defensive performance from a 26-year-old whose defensive credentials have long been established. A Gold Glove Award finalist in 2024, Young has continued to flash leather to the same extent this season. He just hasn’t been out there as much.

Young’s .582 OPS has relegated him to the bench more often than not during the season’s second half, with rookie Robert Hassell III making more starts in center field (even though his .583 OPS is practically identical). In some ways, that makes Young’s fielding stats (13 Outs Above Average, 11 Defensive Runs Saved) more impressive. The two National League center fielders who have better numbers (the Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong and the Cardinals’ Victor Scott II have played considerably more innings in the field than him.

That may keep Young from a Gold Glove this season. The Nationals, though, don’t need any official confirmation of his defensive greatness. They’ve seen it day-in and day-out the last two seasons. And they really saw it Sunday, as did a sellout crowd of devastated Mets fans.

“Nothing’s better than quieting 40,000 people,” Young said. “It never gets old.”