Mattingly on using Kershaw in Game 5: 'He's here'

With the final elimination game of the NLCS just hours away, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly was asked if Clayton Kershaw would be available in relief just two days removed from pitching seven innings on short rest in the team's Game 4 win.

"He's here," the Dodgers skipper replied with a grin. "Obviously the hesitation is health. ... The moment is huge. What is right?"

Mattingly will certainly hope he won't learn the answer to that question with fellow Cy Young winner Zack Greinke taking the mound Thursday night in Los Angeles. The 31-year-old pitched seven strong innings in the Dodgers' Game 2 victory Saturday, striking out eight.

If Kershaw does enter the game, he'll be just three strikeouts away from tying Justin Verlander's record of 22 strikeouts in a divisional series set in 2012.

Game 5 begins at 8:00 p.m. ET at Dodger Stadium.