Nationals’ Koda Glover vs Dodgers’ Yasiel Puig: Tempers flare, words and stares exchanged after game-ending K...

Washington’s closer Koda Glover pumped his fist pretty demonstrably after getting LA Dodgers’ outfielder Yasiel Puig to chase a full-count slider out of the zone for a swinging strike three and the final out of the Nationals’ 2-1 win on Tuesday night.

Matt Wieters made his way out to the mound to shake Glover’s hand when he realized that Puig was headed towards the Nats’ closer as well.

Glover took off his cap and dropped his glove as he walked toward Puig, but Weiters held his closer back and Dodgers’ first base coach George Lombard intercepted Puig.

Both teams emptied out of the dugouts, but cooler heads prevailed as the Nationals avoided their second on-field brawl on their West Coast road trip.

Glover told reporters after the game that Puig was staring at him and he just. didn’t. like it.

Neither manager saw what led to the exchange as they explained in their separate post game press conferences.

“I didn’t even see what happened at the end,” he told reporters. “I was shaking hands with my coaches and about to go out to congratulate our guys for a game well-played. And so, like I said, I didn’t see what happened and next thing I know both sides are on the field.

“As I get older in age it takes me longer to get out there,” Baker said, “so when I got out there, the umpires had taken control of the game and their players took their players and our players took our players.”

“You know what, actually, after the strikeout I turned my back,” Dodgers’ skipper Dave Roberts said. “Yasiel is very emotional, so in that at bat he might have been a little too demonstrative for Glover, I guess, I don’t know.

“It was kind of his own deal, and so I guess he took offense to it, but I didn’t see it.”

Baker said Glover too can get a little emotional at times, and the save, drama, and all of it was just another opportunity for the 23-year-old closer to gain more experience.

“He’s always fired up,” Baker said. “It doesn’t take him much to get fired up. We put him out there when he feels right, and every game if he has a save or if he doesn’t get the save, every game is adding to his experience out there. We’ll just keep putting him out there, like I said, if he feels right and the situation is correct, that’s what we’ll do.”