Glover, Suero could ascend into late-inning roles

CHICAGO - For all the difficulty Sammy Solís and Greg Holland had in the sixth and seventh innings, ultimately costing the Nats the game, Koda Glover and Wander Suero pitched exceptionally well after that. And in doing so may have earned their manager's trust to start pitching in big situations like the ones Solís and Holland failed in at Wrigley Field.

After Holland walked in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh, manager Davey Martinez summoned Glover to enter from the bullpen for his 2018 major league debut. And what a spot the hard-throwing right-hander was summoned for: bases loaded, one out, his team trailing by one run.

Glover, who missed most of the last two seasons with shoulder and other assorted injuries, had not yet pitched in a game since his promotion from Triple-A Syracuse on Wednesday. Now he was being asked to pitch out of a major jam, with no margin for error, against the heart of the best lineup in the National League.

How did Glover respond? He got NL MVP candidate Javy Báez to tap a ball back toward the mound, charging in to make the play and toss the ball to Spencer Kieboom for the force out at the plate. Then he got Ben Zobrist to ground out to first to end the inning and strand three runners on base.

Suero, who has pitched well during his sporadic stints in the majors this season but hasn't been used regularly in tight games, pitched the bottom of the eighth and faced the minimum. Though he issued a one-out walk to David Bote, Suero was quick to the plate and gave Kieboom a chance to throw him out trying to steal second. He also got Jason Heyward to ground out and struck out Albert Almora to complete a scoreless inning.

With Sean Doolittle and Kelvin Herrera on the disabled list, Ryan Madson now closing and Brandon Kintzler now pitching for the Cubs (more on that in a moment), Martinez is looking for relievers he can trust to pitch in big spots late. Glover and Suero made compelling cases for themselves Friday.

"What I liked today is I got to see Glover come in and do really well," Martinez said. "I got to see Suero pitch in a high-leverage situation and do well. Those guys are going to have to step up now, and possibly pitch seventh, eighth and ninth innings along with Madson until we get Doo back."

Speaking of Kintzler ... the former Nationals setup man was right in the center of this game as well, pitching the top of the eighth for the Cubs and charged with protecting a 3-2 lead. The veteran right-hander, who was surprisingly traded to Chicago on July 31 for a low-level pitching prospect, issued back-to-back, full-count walks to Bryce Harper and Juan Soto, getting pulled in favor of Carl Edwards Jr. (who pitched out of the jam, thanks in large part to catcher Willson Contreras picking an unsuspecting Soto off first base).

Kintzler has now made five appearances in 10 days for the Cubs, the first four of which came in his first six days with his new team. He has yet to allow a run to score, retiring 10 of 15 batters faced. The Cubs have won all five games in which he has pitched.