The call came down to the bullpen as the bottom of the eighth was about to get underway Sunday afternoon. The Nationals and Pirates were tied 3-3, but Clayton Beeter was informed he should start warming up, because if his teammates scored that inning, he was going to be pitching the ninth.

Yes, in a save situation for the first time in his career. And how did the 26-year-old rookie handle that news?

“It felt pretty much the same,” he insisted. “Obviously, I knew what it was. But I felt confident that I was going to go out there and keep doing what I’ve been doing.”

Which is precisely what Beeter did do. Though he put two runners on base with two outs, the right-hander responded by striking out Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds to end the game, preserve a 4-3 victory and lock up his first career save.

How was it that Beeter found himself in this unlikely situation?

It starts with interim manager Miguel Cairo’s decision to give Jose A. Ferrer a second straight day off. The 25-year-old lefty ascended to the Nats’ closer role after Kyle Finnegan was dealt July 31, and he has gone a perfect nine-for-nine in save situations since. But Ferrer did have a shaky outing Friday night, and given his heavy workload over the last month, Cairo decided to stay away from him Sunday.

Cairo’s first alternate closer of late has been Cole Henry, the rookie right-hander who notched the first two saves of his career over the last month. But Henry landed on the 15-day injured list Sunday morning with a back strain, a relatively minor ailment but one that will end his season two weeks sooner than hoped.

So next up on the depth chart was Beeter, who had certainly pitched well enough in recent weeks to merit a look in a big spot like this. Acquired from the Yankees for veteran infielder Amed Rosario in late July, he was scored upon in three of his first six appearances for the Nationals. But he hasn’t surrendered another run since, a scoreless streak that has reached 13 2/3 innings.

Beeter has done so by overwhelming hitters with his fastball-slider combo, producing 20 strikeouts in those 13 2/3 innings. Opponents haven’t been able to touch him with the bat; they’ve managed a grand total of two hits during this stretch, including Spencer Horwitz’s two-out single in the ninth Sunday.

The only real trouble Beeter has run into has been of his own making, when he can’t find the strike zone. He’s issued 14 walks in 22 1/3 total big league innings, four of those coming for the Yankees prior to the trade. But he has shown a propensity for brushing those off and rebounding to close out innings without runners crossing the plate.

“I think the walks are going to happen a little bit,” he said. “Obviously, I want to limit them as much as I can. But I think I get a decent amount of miss, so I’m naturally going to throw more pitches, and sometimes that might lead to more walks. I just plan on getting out of an inning if I do walk someone and stay locked in.”

Beeter complimented the Nationals’ catching corps and coaching staff for helping him improve his command since the trade by establishing better targets for him to throw toward from the mound. They’ve been positioning themselves more directly over the plate early in at-bats, then expanding to the inside or outside corner once he gets ahead in the count.

Whatever the reason, Beeter is enjoying success here. With a fastball that averages 96.5 mph, he’s inducing weak contact. And with a slider that produces a hefty 46 percent whiff rate, he’s got a put-away pitch once he gets to two strikes.

“He’s got very good stuff,” Cairo said. “It’s nice to have someone like that in the bullpen.”

It’s still a pretty small sample, so the Nationals have to be careful not to draw any major conclusions about his long-term viability. But the early returns have been impressive.

And after recording his first career save Sunday, Beeter was already looking forward to the next one.

“Hopefully a lot more to come,” he said. “You’ve got to get the first one to get a bunch of them. I’m glad that it happened here. It’s cool that it happened so soon. It just shows that everyone here believes in me. That plays a big part in being able to be successful at this level.”