With eventful save in L.A., Glover keeps growing into closer role

LOS ANGELES - Dusty Baker keeps saying the only way for a closer to get experience is to, well, get experience. You don't know how any young reliever is going to handle the pressure of the ninth inning until he starts pitching it. And you don't know how he's going to handle the extra pressure of a ninth inning on the road against an elite opponent until he gives it a try.

So consider Tuesday night a significant experience for Koda Glover, and a positive one at that. Handed a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth at Dodger Stadium, the Nationals rookie proceeded to close the door and earn his eighth save in as many tries since taking over the job last month.

It wasn't as simple as that, of course. With two outs and the tying run on second base, Glover faced a 3-2 count against Yasiel Puig (who beat the Nationals last summer with a walk-off Little League home run). Glover fired a 3-2 slider down and away, well out of the zone, but Puig bit and whiffed with a mighty swing.

As he started celebrating on the mound, Glover said something and motioned with his hand toward Puig as if to tell him to go back to the dugout. Puig responded by turning around and walking toward Glover, ultimately causing both benches to empty.

Cooler heads prevailed and nothing of consequence happened, but chalk that one up as another learning experience for Glover, who might have been better off keeping his mouth shut and just enjoying the win.

"Tempers flared a little bit," he said afterward. "It is what it is. I don't have any hard feelings toward him. He was staring at me. I didn't like it. It is what it is."

In the bigger picture, this was a significant save for Glover, given the circumstances and the environment. And he handled it well, especially when considering he was unavailable to pitch Monday after throwing 22 pitches Sunday in a strange outing in Oakland that saw him get the final out of the eighth but then fail to retire five straight batters in the ninth.

"First off, I'm just glad to be back out there after the Oakland series," he said. "Couple broken bats, crappy hits. Baseball is what it is. But I was happy to get back out there."

With each passing save, Glover is growing into the role, impressing teammates along the way.

"He's a closer. He wants the ball," starter Max Scherzer said. "He's not afraid of anybody. And he's going to attack the zone. He's got unbelievable stuff with his fastball, cutter and curveball. It's nasty. He's got the attitude, too, to go out there with a chip on his shoulder. He wants the ball."

Said Baker: "If he has a save or if he doesn't get the save, every game is adding to his experience out there. We'll just keep putting him out there."