NLDS Game 4 Thread: Oct. 7 vs. Braves, 6.30p

Clayton Kershaw (1-0, 1.29) vs. Freddy Garcia (0-0, -.--).

One night after a gritty but reverberating Game 3 win, Don Mattingly is going all in and starting Clayton Kershaw on short rest (Kershaw pitched Game 1 on Thursday Oct 3) to try and finish this series at home. The way Dodger Stadium was buzzing last night, one hopes that there's still some of that electricity still coursing through the veins of Chavez Ravine this evening. Hopefully Kershaw can feed off of that energy.

Garcia has some deep postseason experience, pitching the deciding Game 4 in the Chicago White Sox' 2005 World Series sweep over the Houston Astros. Even thinking about a World Series with the White Sox and Astros in it is so bizarre right now, that it might not be too safe to rely on those statistics. More recently, Garcia went 4-7 with a 4.37 ERA this year (ERA+ of 94), but had a 1-2 record with a 1.65 ERA (237 ERA+, his career high) with Atlanta late in the year. So he's no slouch. In the opposite of "short rest", Garcia hasn't pitched since Sept. 24, almost two weeks ago.

Let's not let this series go back to Atlanta. Come on, Blue! I need to see this win tonight (by the way, if you're at the Stadium tonight, drop a line with your location and we will try and connect).