Crews' first hit just one of several big moments in second career game

Dylan Crews’ first career hit figured to be a memorable one. And it was, a laser of a double off the left field wall in his first at-bat Tuesday night against a Cy Young Award winner.

And then for good measure, the Nationals rookie added another hit later in the game, stole his first base and scored his first run, then caught the final two outs of his team’s 4-2 victory over the Yankees.

“Overall, I thought today was awesome,” the 22-year-old outfielder said. “And we won, so it was a great day.”

Crews’ major league debut Monday turned out to be nondescript. He put together some quality at-bats but ultimately went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. And he didn’t have much opportunity to make an impact on the bases or in the field.

Tuesday’s game presented a very different opportunity, with Crews front and center for multiple big moments over the course of the night.

His first hit was a 104.4-mph rocket to left field that hit the base of the wall for an easy double. That it came off Yankees ace Gerrit Cole only made it sweeter as Crews reached second base, looked at the home dugout and provided his first shimmy-shake as a big leaguer.

“Felt great,” he said. “Just get that first one out of the way. Sit back and breathe a little bit. Take it all in. It was an awesome moment.”

It was also an oddly historic moment. Crews is the third player in Nationals history to record his first career hit off a Cy Young Award winner. And you’ll never guess the other two who did it: Blake Treinen off Clayton Kershaw in 2014 and Beltran Perez off Tom Glavine in 2006. Both of them pitchers, with Treinen ultimately becoming a stalwart reliever for several other teams and Perez never returning to the majors after appearing in only eight games for the Nats.

“Obviously, Gerrit’s a great pitcher and has a great history,” Crews said. “He’s got very good (vertical movement) on his fastball. I was just trying to see a fastball down. I think he threw two off the plate, and then threw a slider on the 2-0 pitch. I got a good swing off it and got the first one out of the way.”

Crews wasn’t done. His second career hit was a swinging bunt in the bottom of the sixth, but he busted down the line and perhaps forced Yankees catcher Jose Trevino into throwing it away, allowing Crews to advance to second. And then he immediately stole third, eluding Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s tag with a nifty slide, which put him in position to score his first run moments later.

“Very excited,” Crews said of his freedom to run with the aggressive Nationals. “I think this organization definitely fits into my approach as far as aggressiveness. We’re an aggressive team. We want to steal bases, turn a single into a double, whatever it is. I think it’s awesome to see how it transitions into my game.”

Crews saw a little more action in right field Tuesday than he did Monday, especially in a tense top of the ninth. He had to track down Chisholm’s leadoff double in the gap. Then with two on, one out and the go-ahead run at the plate, he chased down DJ LeMahieu’s fly ball in foul territory just before reaching the stands. And moments later, he had to backtrack to catch Gleyber Torres’ 351-foot fly ball just shy of the warning track for the final out of the game.

What was going through Crews’ mind as that ball – which would’ve been a home run at Yankee Stadium, but not at any other major league park – was coming toward him with the game on the line?

“Catch it,” he said with a laugh. “Catch it. And I wasn’t going to throw it out into the stands. I got to keep him, and I’m going to cherish that one.”