Storen also went six games between appearances earlier this year and has pitched on consecutive days only once. That has led to a 4.76 ERA for the right-hander, who entered the season with a 2.90 mark.

"There's a fine line," Storen told The Washington Post about his usage. "You got to find a happy medium of not throwing too much. But you also don't want to have too much rest. Because when you have too much rest, you start to elevate, you start throwing through the break and stuff. It's a fine line to stay sharp. That's kind of what I said to him. I don't mind getting up and just throwing, even if I don't go in the game. I don't care."

Storen, who has closing experience in the past, was not up to the task, allowing two runs on three hits to send the game to overtime. Storen retired the final batter of the eighth inning to end a bases-loaded jam, but ran into trouble in the ninth. He allowed a leadoff single and then allowed an infield single and a walk to load the bases himself. The defense let him down on a possible game-ending double play to third base, as Chris Johnson's throwing error allowed two runs to score.

Storen was charged with one of those runs in 1 1/3 innings, with a strikeout and a walk as well. He earned a blown save, in a 6-4 loss in 10 innings. His ERA rose to 3.38 on the season, with six strikeouts and one walk in 5 1/3 innings. 

Storen is considered the backup closer and Clippard is in the mix as closer to spell both relievers. Soriano recorded a save in each of the Nationals' first two games.

"That’s something I’ll learn and hopefully [Soriano will] let me know if he’s getting overworked," Johnson said. "That’s a really good problem to have. I hope that happens a lot. But I got a lot of choices for guys who want to step in."

"It was good to get in there and get your feet wet in some regular season baseball," he said, per CSN Washington. "It just felt comfortable more than anything. When you go out and get in a game like that, a tight game, it’s fun. It’s fun to get those juices flowing again and that’s what locks me in."

Storen made quick work of the Marlins in the eighth inning. He pitched a perfect inning and struck out one, needing just 14 pitches.

"I think it was nice for him so people can stop talking about it," Kurt Suzuki, who was the catcher in Game 5, said. "I've got so much confidence in Drew. He's got great stuff. He's a great reliever. He showed that tonight, and he's shown it in his career. That one game, obviously, was magnified a little bit because of what was at stake, but I think Drew's going to be fine."