The Atlanta Braves play the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday in Game 4 of their NL division series. The game starts at 9:37 p.m. ET. Listen to the live radio broadcast HERE.
Los Angeles can close the series and advance to the NL championship series with a win on Monday. Wanting to avoid a fifth game, the Dodgers announced on Monday that star pitcher Clayton Kershaw would start in place of Ricky Nolasco, according to MLB.com.
Playing Kershaw (16-9, 1.83 ERA) on short rest gives the Dodgers a better chance of clinching the series on Monday. In Game 1, Kershaw allowed just one run in seven innings pitched while fanning 12 batters. Should the Braves force a fifth game, the Dodgers still have No. 2 starter Zack Greinke available to pitch.
Although the Dodgers' pitching wasn't great - rookie Hyun-Jin Ryu gave up four runs in three innings - the team put on an offensive showing behind the bats of Carl Crawford and Juan Uribe in Game 3, the Associated Press reports. Both homered on Sunday and accounted for five of the team's runs in the Dodgers' 13-6 win.
"It was a total team effort," said Crawford, via ESPN. "Guys were swinging the bat well. That's what it's going to take: 25 guys to do the job and come together play well."
Atlanta, meanwhile, is tying its postseason hopes to pitcher Freddy Garcia (1-2, 1.65), whom the team acquired in August. He'll make his fourth start for the Braves and just his second postseason start in eight seasons.
