Glover looking for more consistency in current up and down start

It has been a bit of the good with the bad for reliever Koda Glover as he looks to find consistency in his first few games back with the Nationals after a long road back from injury.

The flame throwing right-hander got two outs on four pitches in Chicago on Aug. 10. He followed that up with one solid inning Aug. 12 against the Cubs, allowing a hit but no runs.

Then on Aug. 13, the Cardinals walked him off with a solo shot by Paul DeJong.

On Aug. 16, Glover recorded the save in the Nats' 5-4 series finale win at St. Louis.

And Saturday night, Glover gave up three hits and two runs in suffering his second loss in five games as the Nats fell 7-5 in 10 innings to the Marlins at Nats Park.

It's hard and really unfair to point fingers at Glover as he battles back from not playing in meaningful major league games since June 10, 2017.

Glover said the most frustrating thing in Saturday's loss was that the Marlins were not making big contact. But three hits is still three hits.

Isaac Galloway's two-run single in the 10th put the Marlins up for good. Glover said the inning unraveled for him when he thought he had a twin killing with Austin Dean at the plate. The grounder was fielded by Trea Turner, who threw to Daniel Murphy to get Starlin Castro, but then Dean beat out Murphy's throw to first base to prolong the inning.

"I mean, make contact. I was looking for a double play early with one out. But three broken bats, infield singles. I mean, that's tough," Glover said. "Honestly, I would rather give it up some other way than three broken bats in the infield. So it's one of them days where I had a little bad luck on my side, but I got to come back tomorrow."

Nationals manager Davey Martinez said he thought Glover had Galloway to end the inning if he could have made the pitch he wanted.

"He threw a good pitch to (Bryan) Holaday, hit off the end of the bat. Snuck in for a hit," Martinez said. The skipper wants to see Glover play to his strength more: "I want to see him throw more fastballs, that's for sure. He threw a lot of cutters and curveballs. It was unfortunate, you know.

"He gave up a hit to Galloway which I thought was a better matchup than (JT) Riddle. Fell behind, threw a high cutter and he was able to hit it."

So how does Glover handle the yo-yo effect he is experiencing right now as he tries to get into an effective rhythm?

"I got to turn the page," Glover said. "I haven't turned the page yet. But three broken bats, like I said, in the infield, that's tough."

Glover understands his up-and-down results are similar to what his team is going through right now as they fail to take advantage of another Braves loss. The Nats fell to 62-62.

"Yeah, I mean, it's very frustrating," Glover said. "It's like you punch somebody and then you get punched twice. So, it's one of those things where you got to keep your head down and keep moving."

Glover has pitched in only five games since his return from injuries that kept him out of games for over a season. And now that he is back, he is thrust into high-leverage moments. Is not being eased back in part of his difficulty? Glover said he never shies away from an opportunity, especially when he is asked to pitch in a moment that can decide the game.

"This is why they pay me," Glover said of late-inning matchups. "I got to get the job done at the end of the day. They count on me and I should come through for them, and I haven't. Two times. So, it's one of them things.

"Tonight's, honestly, more frustrating than the other night. I can't get over three broken-bat infield singles."