After seeing the Chicago Cubs clinch a spot in the NLCS, the New York Mets were eager to clinch a spot as well, but first they had to get by Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers in game four of the NLDS at Citi Field.

Kershaw has statistically been bad in the playoffs, and especially in elimination games posting a record of 0-2 and an ERA over nine. Tuesday was a different story for the three-time Cy Young award winner. While pitching on three days rest in his playoff career, he has a 1.89 ERA in 19 innings with 23 strikeouts and just four walks.

The Dodgers' southpaw had one of his best outings in his playoff career even on short rest. He went seven innings giving up just one run on three hits while striking out eight and walking one. He was capped at 94 pitches because of the short rest.

As for the Mets, rookie left-hander Steven Matz took the hill and had one rough inning that put him behind the eight ball. Matz went five innings giving up three runs on six hits while striking out four and walking two. The rookie hadn't pitched in over ten days, but still turned in an outing to keep his team within striking distance.

The Dodgers offensive output came in a big three run second inning. With two outs in the inning, Adrian Gonzalez singled on a bloop single that neither the center fielder, second baseman, or shortstop could get to and that scored Enrique Hernandez to give the Dodgers the first run of the ballgame. That was followed by a two RBI double by Justin Turner on a hanging breaking ball that Turner turned on and sent into the left field corner, scoring Howie Kendrick and Adrian Gonzalez to give Los Angeles a 3-0 lead.

Early on, the only offense the Mets got was off of one swing of the bat by Daniel Murphy. In the bottom of the fourth with one out, Murphy hit a solo home run to cut into the Dodgers lead. This blast rejuvenated the Citi Field crowd, but work still needed to be done as they faced a 3-1 deficit.

When Kershaw's night was done after seven innings, Chris Hatcher came on and got the first two outs, but after a two-out walk to Curtis Granderson, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly brought in closer Kenley Jansen for a four out save.

The first batter he faced was Mets captain David Wright and he was able to draw a walk. Then, with runners on first and second, it was Daniel Murphy's chance to come through in the clutch, but he was unable to get it done as he flew out to right field. This was one of the best chances of the night for the Mets.

In the ninth inning, Jansen mowed down the Mets for an easy 1-2-3 inning with two strike outs to preserve the win for the Dodgers.

With the win, the Dodgers forced a winner take all game five on Thursday night at Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles for a trip to the NLCS against the Cubs on the line. Most likely, we will see Jacob deGrom for the Mets against Zack Greinke for the Dodgers. TBS will televise the game starting at 8:00 EST.

WP: Clayton Kershaw

LP: Steven Matz

SV: Kenley Jansen