Decision-makers meeting tonight to pick closer (Nats win 6-0)

NATIONALS QUICK WRAP

Score: Nats 6, Mets 0

Recap: Max Scherzer cruised through the Mets lineup, carrying a no-hitter into the fifth before he allowed two singles. The right-hander did walk three batters and drove up his pitch count to 85 before departing after five scoreless innings. He got plenty of offensive support from Bryce Harper and Trea Turner. Each young star homered twice, with three of the bombs coming off Mets starter Seth Lugo. Enny Romero continued his dominant spring with two scoreless innings of relief. Koda Glover closed out the victory with 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

Need to know: The Nationals got their first look at Tim Tebow this spring, and the Heisman Trophy winner-turned-minor leaguer was completely overmatched. Scherzer struck him out twice on seven total pitches, six of them fastballs registering 95-97 mph. Tebow did manage to make contact against Romero in the seventh, tapping a comebacker to the mound, but was struck out by Glover on three pitches to end the game.

On deck: Tuesday vs. Marlins in Jupiter at 6:35 p.m. on MASN

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PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - There should finally be a public answer in the next 24 hours to the most pressing question from Nationals camp: The identity of their closer to open the season.

Manager Dusty Baker, despite suggesting over the weekend he had settled on his choice to pitch the ninth inning, will meet tonight with pitching coach Mike Maddux, general manager Mike Rizzo and other decision-makers from the organization to make a final selection.

"It's still kind of up for discussion," Baker said. "I've had some discussions. Some of it might depend on health, some of it might depend on resiliency."

Baker wouldn't rule any of the candidates - Shawn Kelley, Blake Treinen, Koda Glover - out, but his multiple references to "resiliency" may not bode well for Kelley. The Nationals were cautious about overworking the veteran right-hander, who has had two Tommy John surgeries, last season while he was setting up closers Jonathan Papelbon and Mark Melancon.

"We haven't ruled (anyone) out, but a lot of it has to do with resiliency and will he be able to go 2-3 days in a row," Baker said. "These are all big factors."

Wear-and-tear isn't particularly an issue for Treinen or Glover, though neither right-hander is a sure-thing choice, either.

Treinen had a 2.28 ERA in 67 innings last season, but did walk 31 batters and relies more on inducing weak contact than swings-and-misses. He also has proven an effective weapon in earlier innings with runners on base, recording 17 double plays last year (most among all major league relievers).

Glover, meanwhile, has impressed team officials with both his stuff and mentality, but has only 19 games of major league experience and only 78 games of professional experience.

Asked this morning if Glover, who has minor league options, would still make the team even if he's not the closer, Baker replied: "I'd love him to be."

Update: It's been an entertaining first six innings to today's game. The Nats lead 4-0, thanks to two home runs by Trea Turner and another by Bryce Harper, all off Mets starter Seth Lugo. Turner's were both down the left field line. Harper's was a no-doubter way back onto the berm in right field.

Max Scherzer, meanwhile, was dominant. He carried a no-hitter into the fifth before allowing two singles. He did walk three batters but struck out seven. Two of those seven strikeouts came against - you guessed it - Tim Tebow, who had as much chance of making contact against Scherzer as you or I did.

Scherzer blew him away on three pitches in their first encounter, going 96, 97 and 97 mph with nothing but fastballs. Scherzer needed four pitches to get him the second time, throwing one fastball outside, then baffling Tebow with a devastating slider-fastball combo to complete the punchout.

Scherzer wound up throwing 85 pitches in five innings, putting him in good shape to ramp up to 100 pitches on Saturday against the Red Sox in Annapolis, his final tune-up before the regular season.