Manager Dusty Baker intimated that Glover, who recorded a four-out save in Sunday's 3-2 win over the Braves, is likely to serve as the Nationals' primary closer, Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post reports. "Right now, [Glover is] the most durable [reliever] and he throws strikes," Baker said after Sunday's game. "A closer has to throw three or four days in a row. So a lot of it relies on Koda's health, and he wants it. We're willing to give it to him as long as he keeps doing the job."

Baker said that he was hopeful that starter Stephen Strasburg would be able to go the distance Sunday after cruising through the first seven innings, but Strasburg ran into trouble in the eighth, prompting the skipper to have the right-handed Glover and southpaw Oliver Perez warm up in the bullpen. With two outs and a runner on second base, Baker made the surprising decision to go with Glover against the left-handed Nick Markakis, and the 24-year-old rewarded his manager's faith with a strikeout to end the inning. Glover then shut down the Braves in the ninth to record his third save in four chances, also ending a streak of seven straight games in which the Nats' bullpen had conceded at least one run. Baker noted afterward that Shawn Kelley, who had also been in the mix for closing opportunities, was unavailable Sunday after pitching Thursday and Friday, but Glover likely would have ranked as Option 1A in any case after Kelley blew his previous save chance. Glover probably still needs to string together several successful high-leverage appearances before building up some job security, but for the time being, the closing gig looks like his to lose.