WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The Nationals still have not decided on an Opening Day closer, but they have been giving Koda Glover serious consideration. They wanted to be sure he faced strong competition in the spring, so manager Dusty Baker ran the right-hander out in the top of sixth inning Friday afternoon against the Cardinals. But St. Louis hit Glover hard, and aided by a few defensive mishaps, defeated the Nationals' split-squad, 3-1, at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.
William Fowler tripled home a run and scored on a sacrifice fly from Jhonny Peralta in the sixth inning, and Greg Garcia singled home a run off Glover in the seventh. Glover allowed a spring-high three runs in 1 2/3 innings with only one strikeout.
"Koda's thrown the ball well," Baker said. "You can't take away from what he's done already this spring. He's looked good. He's had a very good spring."
The Cardinals received a strong outing from right-hander Michael Wacha, who gave up just two hits in five scoreless innings with a walk and three strikeouts. He was relieved by right-hander Trevor Rosenthal, who threw two innings and allowed one run on a RBI single to Jayson Werth.
"I was real happy with the movement I had on the ball and the mix," said Wacha, whose Grapefruit League ERA dropped to 2.05. "I felt like I was mixing them well [and] had a good rhythm with Carson [Kelly] behind the plate."
This was also the latest chance for right-hander Jeremy Guthrie to plead his case to the Nats as he auditions for a spot in their bullpen as the long reliever. He showed off his durability by tossing 4 1/3 scoreless innings without allowing a hit, walking two and striking out two with one hit batsman.
Cardinals Up Next:Lance Lynn is scheduled to make his fifth and final Grapefruit League start in Saturday's 12:05 p.m. CT game against the Marlins. The game will be played at Roger Dean Stadium, and the Cardinals will serve as the road team. Lynn has a 1.29 ERA over 14 innings this spring. Watch on MLB.TV and listen on Gameday Audio.
Nationals Up Next: The Nationals will be the road team when they play the Astros at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches on Saturday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. ET. Tanner Roark will make his return from the World Baseball Classic to start for the Nats. Watch on MLB.TV and listen on Gameday Audio.
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