Four batters, four swings, three homers, five runs. It was this third-inning ambush that propelled the Mets into the lead against the team they had been chasing in the NL East. But by the end of a 5-2 win, they had swept the Washington Nationals and the two teams were deadlocked atop the standings — with momentum clearly on New York’s side. As it turned out, this thrilling series would set the tone for the remainder of the regular season.

The Friday night opener of the three-game set, preceded by the trade for Yoenis Cespedes, ended with Wilmer Flores‘ dramatic walk-off home run in the 12th. Saturday’s dramatic moment came in the eighth, when Lucas Duda — who had already belted a pair of homers and was responsible for the entirety of the Mets’ scoring — delivered a tie-breaking two-run double.

Duda’s torrid hitting proved vital in Sunday evening’s series finale. Washington starter Jordan Zimmermann was an out away from getting through three scoreless innings before Curtis Granderson ended both the shutout and the Nationals’ lead. The fans that rose to their feet after Grandy’s blast to right field didn’t bother to sit down when Daniel Murphy duplicated the feat. Cespedes took a pitch before getting a modest single, but he wouldn’t be at first base for long.

Duda came up looking to prolong a ridiculous power surge: eight homers in seven games. The first pitch he saw appeared to be too inside to drive, yet it was lifted down the right-field line. The ball looked like it might curl to the wrong side of the right-field foul pole. But this, like so many other things in the series, went the Mets’ way. Citi Field maintained its euphoric state and in an unlikely turn of events, the usually reserved Duda cracked a wide smile as he crossed home plate. And why not? It was his 21st homer of the season — more than 40 percent of which had come since July 25.

Backed with a 5-1 lead, Noah Syndergaard took it from there. The rookie overcame a first-inning by Anthony Rendon and retired the next 13 Nationals batters. Syndergaard pitched brilliantly over eight innings, tallying nine strikeouts, before handing it over to Tyler Clippard who pitched a clean ninth. Over the course of one weekend, a team which looked lifeless on offense in July had the look of a contender at the beginning of August.

The next night, the Mets won in Miami and took over first place — and wouldn’t let it go.