Clayton Kershaw delivers, Dodgers force Game 5 with 3-1 win

Clayton Kershaw had heard all about his postseason struggles, his seventh-inning meltdowns, his lack of a signature game.

Maybe he won’t be hearing it quite as much now, not after he stared down the New York Mets and kept the Dodgers’ postseason alive Tuesday night in a nervous 3-1 victory in Game 4 at Citi Field.

Now, their National League division series will come down to decisive Game 5 back in Los Angeles on Thursday, featuring a dramatic showdown between the Dodgers’ Zack Greinke and the Mets’ Jacob deGrom.

Pitching on short rest, Kershaw went seven strong innings Tuesday, holding the Mets to three hits. He walked one and struck out eight; the only run he allowed was another solo home run by Daniel Murphy.

He threw hard, crisp and had mostly excellent location. He looked like one very determined pitcher. The Mets never seemed to have a chance.

Even when the seventh inning -- in which he’d melted down in his last three postseason starts -- started ominously with a swinging-bunt single by Yoenis Cespedes that slipped under Kershaw’s glove, he simply bore down and retired the next three Mets.

All without incident or fresh nightmare.

Manager Don Mattingly elected to remove Kershaw after the seventh, setting himself up for second-guessers since Kershaw had thrown only 94 pitches.

And things got really interesting in the eighth. Chris Hatcher took over and got the first two Mets, but then walked Curtis Granderson. Mattingly immediately called on closer Kenley Jansen to face David Wright.

Jansen, who’d thrown once in the last 10 days, walked Wright -- after a disputed check-swing that would have been strike three -- and everyone at Citi Field was on their feet as Murphy came to the plate. Jansen’s fastball hit 97 mph, his highest all season.

Murphy worked the count full before flying out to center, but the inning cost Jansen 14 pitches. In the ninth, however, he retired the Mets in order. It was only his second four-out save of the year.

The Dodgers scored all three of their runs against rookie left-hander Steven Matz in the third inning. Kershaw actually collected the game’s first hit, but was erased at second on an Enrique Hernandez grounder.

But then game three consecutive hits. Howie Kendrick singled and Adrian Gonzalez followed with a run-scoring base hit. Justin Turner, the ex-Met who’s been on fire the entire series, doubled into the left-field corner to score two.

Kershaw had his three runs, and completed a pitching performance to keep the Dodgers’ season alive.

Follow Steve Dilbeck on Twitter @SteveDilbeck