WASHINGTON -- Right arm outstretched, Victor Robles crossed home plate, lifted his helmet from his head and offered it to the screaming masses. His target was one person in particular, his salute years in the making.

Somewhere on the other end, Marcia Brito received it gleefully. Robles’ mother had never witnessed her son play in the United States before Monday, when Robles returned to the Nationals’ lineup to help send them sprinting toward the 8-1, statement-making victory over the Cardinals in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series that now has them at the doorstep of the first World Series appearance in franchise history.

“It was very special, obviously a lot of love,” Robles said later, through team translator Octavio Martinez. “I felt my mom’s strength there. I was fortunate enough to hit a home run in her presence. I wanted to make sure I recognized that and showed her some love.”

Consider it another special moment caked into a postseason full of them for the Nationals, who are thrilled just to have Robles healthy and back in the fold. Not 36 hours before his sixth-inning homer off John Brebbia, Robles tested his strained right hamstring on the basepaths in an otherwise empty Nationals Park, the club unsure whether it would respond well enough to green-light his return to the lineup. He’d been active but unavailable for the five games prior, since suffering a mild right hamstring strain trying to leg out a bunt in Washington’s Game 2 loss to the Dodgers in the NL Division Series.

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In part because Robles’ replacement, Michael A. Taylor, performed well in his absence, the Nationals subsequently won four of the next five games to storm back, from a game away from elimination to the doorstep of the Fall Classic. But they did so with one of their more talented contributors watching exclusively from the sidelines. They were cautious not to deploy Robles until they were sure he was ready to contribute. Martinez repeatedly said he preferred Taylor as a bench option if Robles were 100 percent healthy.

“A lot of times when you have an injury like the one I have, it's a couple months to come back from. I was able to come back from it in a little more than a week and a half,” Robles said. “My faith is very strong and I put everything on God. I knew he was going to heal me as soon as possible. I was very upbeat about the fact that I would be back on the field very soon.”

Back on the field Monday, Robles validated the Nationals’ approach. Robles singled and scored to spark their four-run rally against losing pitcher Jack Flaherty in the fourth, made multiple challenging plays look simple in center field and homered off Brebbia in the sixth to stretch Washington’s lead to 7-0.

All told, it was a snapshot of the varied tool set Robles brings to the ballpark. Now 22, the former top prospect led MLB outfielders with 21 outs above average, hit 17 homers, stole 28 bases and was worth 4.1 Wins Above Replacement during his first full season in the Majors, when he emerged as one of baseball’s most dynamic rookies.

“He’s been like that all year,” outfielder Adam Eaton said. “Hitting at the bottom of the lineup, but that’s where a lot of our production has come from of late. Our depth has been so big for us throughout the year, guys coming off the bench, and he’s no different. He’s electric in the outfield. He has all the tools, and every day he learns something, so that’s impressive.”

And yet, it was growth one of his closest confidants had been able to witness mostly only from afar. Robles said Brito watched him play last offseason for Águilas Cibaeñas of the Dominican Winter League, where she once joined the team’s on-field celebration after a walk-off victory. But she hadn’t been able to travel abroad to see her son since he signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2013 at age 16. All of Robles’ accomplishments to this point, including his MLB debut in 2017 at age 20, had come with her at a distance.

Until Monday. Until the lights were brightest, the moment biggest.

“After the game, as soon as it ended, she came down and gave me a big hug,” Robles said. “Absolutely, she’ll be here tomorrow.”