Dodgers make right call in starting Clayton Kershaw in NLDS Game 4

Down two games to one and facing elimination in their Division Series against the Nationals, the Dodgers had a difficult choice to make regarding their starting pitcher for Tuesday's Game 4 in Los Angeles—so difficult that the organization decided to sleep on it, so to speak. Not until five hours before game time did Los Angeles announce that ace Clayton Kershaw would take the ball on three days of rest.

Normally, this would be an easy decision, but Kershaw missed 2 1/2 months, from late June to early September, with a herniated disc in his back. While he had worked his way back into a groove over the course of his five regular-season starts in September and October—allowing six runs (four…