The Dodgers and Atlanta Braves are playing Game 4 of the National League division series on Monday night and the game will be on TBS from Dodgers Stadium at 9:30 pm and will be Kershaw going up against Garcia for Game 4. The Braves obviously need to win this game to stay alive and that would send the series into Game 5, just like Cardinals did with the Pittsburgh Pirates and now that series will have a deciding game on Wednesday.
Clayton Kershaw is one of the best pitchers in baseball and while Don Mattingly likely will take some criticism if he falters in Game 4, he made the choice with some sound logic. Ricky Nolasco was terrible to finish the season with a 12.00 plus ERA over his last two starts and with the possibility of game 5 coming, he has Zack Greinke to use in that role. On top of that, Mattingly is playing the postseason the way he should be, as in it's not the regular season and sometimes what feels logical isn't necessarily always the decision to go with.
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Even if Kershaw loses, surely it's a better matchup for the Dodgers that Nolasco would give and since the Dodgers theoretically could have to play a Game 5 and then into the National League championship series, Mattingly now has a stretch of three games with Game 4 and 5 of the NLDS and possible game 1 of the NLCS with Greinke and Kershaw pitching all of those games, rather than having one for each instead. Kershaw has never pitched on three days rest and this could be a tough decision, but with a home game and a solid pitching matchup, Mattingly is going with his gut and he has been working well with that this season.
The Braves are the NL East champions after dominating during the regular season, but now they are one game away from another disappointing and early playoff loss and that would be tough to deal with for fans after losing to the Cardinals last season. The past two seasons have ended in heartbreaking fashion and that could happen again this year and with Kershaw on the mound against Garcia, clearly the Dodgers have the advantage no matter what way it's looked at, as he led the team in strikeouts, ERA, wins and strikeouts per nine innings and Mattingly will need him on his game again.
The Dodgers are trying to avoid a game 5 matchup, which would come on Wednesday in Atlanta and then the team is hoping that doesn't go down. The Cardinals and the Pirates are playing a game 5 on Wednesday and those games would come in the ALDS if necessary on Thursday. The Athletics and Tigers will play Game 4 with the A's up 2-1 now after winning.
