LOS ANGELES -- Clayton Kershaw left with a lead in the seventh inning and the bases loaded. After the bullpen faltered, veterans Chase Utley and Andre Ethier rescued the Dodgers.Utley singled home the tiebreaking run with two outs in the eighth, and Los Angeles avoided elimination Tuesday with a 6-5 victory over the Washington Nationals that forced a deciding Game 5 in their NL playoff.Kenley Jansen worked the ninth for a save, one day after giving up four late runs during Los Angeles loss in Game 3.I got out there and focused and fought, he said.Game 5 is Thursday in Washington, with 20-game winner Max Scherzer set to pitch for the Nationals.Man, this is going to be a heck of a ballgame, Scherzer said. The effort from both sides over the first four games has been incredible. Great pitching, great hitting, defense, everything.Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he will use left-hander Rich Hill and rookie Julio Urias, but did not announce which one will start.If anyone gives up on this team, they havent seen us play a whole lot this year, Roberts said, and it starts with what Clayton did -- short rest and leaving it all out there. Everyone fed off that.After failing to close out the Dodgers on the road, Washington will get one more chance Thursday to win a playoff series for the first time since the franchise relocated from Montreal. NL East champions in three of the past five years, the Nationals were unable to advance during their two previous trips to the postseason.Thats why we fought so hard for the home-field advantage, manager Dusty Baker said. This year, its coming to fruition.Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run homer for the Dodgers, who turned to Kershaw on three days rest to salvage their season.The score was tied 5-all with two outs in the eighth when Andrew Toles got hit by a pitch from loser Blake Treinen. Ethier followed with a single to left and Utley singled to right, scoring Toles from second for a 6-5 lead.Trailing 5-2 in the seventh, the Nats had runners on first and second against Kershaw with two outs. The crowd chanted Kershaws name as he and Bryce Harper battled through eight pitches before Harper drew a walk.Man, thats what baseball is all about right there: a matter of will, Baker said. Kershaw was on empty. We knew it. They knew it. Everybody knew it.Harpers walk loaded the bases and chased Kershaw, who walked off with his head down. He sat alone in the dugout with his head resting on his right hand.Kershaw was outstanding, Baker said. Thats one of the best performances Ive seen, especially on three days rest.But the Dodgers bullpen nearly gave the game away.Pedro Baez came in and hit Jayson Werth with his only pitch, forcing in a run to make it 5-3. Baez got booed off the field.Daniel Murphys single off Luis Avilan dropped between Toles and Joc Pederson in left-center field, scoring two runs to tie it at 5. Avilan also heard boos.Joe Blanton, who earned the win, retired Anthony Rendon on a swinging strikeout to end the inning.Our bullpen has been unbelievable, Kershaw said. Joe did what Joes been doing all season. Hes been through a lot in his career but he came in and shut them down.Desperate to avoid another early playoff exit, the Dodgers went with Kershaw, their three-time Cy Young Award winner who won Game 1 last Friday despite going just five innings and allowing three runs.This time, he was charged with five runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out 11 -- equaling his second-best postseason total -- and walked two.The left-hander was limited to 149 innings while compiling a 1.69 ERA during the regular season. He missed 2 1/2 months with a mildly herniated disk in his back.Kershaw opened the game by giving up a leadoff single and a walk before Murphys RBI single.The Dodgers took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning on Gonzalezs two-run shot that scored Justin Turner, who was hit by a pitch from Joe Ross.Werths RBI single tied it 2-all in the third.Los Angeles again answered in the bottom of the inning, with Kershaw getting the rally going with a double to left field. He slid into second and clenched his fists in a rare show of emotion.Kershaw scored on Turners single with two outs. Pederson got hit by a pitch from Ross with the bases loaded, forcing in TurnerRoss made his postseason debut for the Nationals, giving up four runs and three hits in 2 2/3 innings, equaling the shortest playoff start in the history of the Montreal-Washington franchise. The 23-year-old right-hander struck out three and walked two. He hasnt pitched more than four innings since coming off the disabled list on Sept. 18.LOOK OUT!Five players were hit by pitches, including four Dodgers, which set a single-game franchise playoff record. Of the quartet, two ended up scoring. Werth was the lone Nationals player to get hit.There have been 11 hit batters in the series, a postseason record.No one on either side is trying to hit anybody with everything on the line right now, Scherzer said. Thats just baseball being played at its highest.TRAINERS ROOMNationals RHP Stephen Strasburg experienced discomfort in his right elbow during a bullpen session Monday at Dodger Stadium. He threw 30 or 31 pitches instead of the scheduled 35. Strasburg has been out since tearing the pronator tendon in his elbow on Sept. 7.Baker said Strasburg was throwing the ball very good and hes not concerned about the pitchers progress. Strasburg has said he would try to return this season if the Nationals advance to the NLCS.SHORT RESTKershaw started a game on three days rest for the fourth consecutive postseason.CANT CLOSE `EM OUTBaker has lost eight consecutive postseason games when his team would have advanced with a victory. Thats the longest such streak in major league history, according to ESPN Stats & Info.ELIMINATION GAMESThe Dodgers improved to 12-15 in postseason elimination games since moving to Los Angeles. Kansas City Royals Shirts . Tevez, who has had conflicts with coaches in the past, has not been called up since Sabella was named coach in 2011. Argentina boasts Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Angel Di Maria. Alex Gordon Jersey . 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Anil Kumble, by all accounts, made a compelling pitch to be Indias head coach, and frankly, once he showed the inclination for the job, youd rather not look someplace else.However, while the BCCI deserves credit for setting up a robust process to find their next head coach, this farcical public spectacle created by two prominent individuals involved in that process has shown up the flaws in the final stages of its execution.Gangulys outburst on Wednesday, after a couple of days of snarky interviews in which Shastri made the point that Ganguly wasnt present when he, Shastri, was being interviewed, but was instead chairing a meeting at the Cricket Association of Bengal, which he heads - wasnt entirely unexpected. You dont have to be a close friend to know Ganguly has a combative side to his personality, and while he has mellowed over the years, when confronted, the feisty fellow from within pipes up. The tone of the argument aside, bristling as it was with cutting sarcasm, it is the substantive commentary Ganguly offered that must be dissected.I have an advice [sic] for him also, Ganguly said towards the end of his testy rant. When the coach of India is selected - and its one of the most important jobs in cricket - he should be in front of the committee giving his presentation and not sit in Bangkok on holiday and make a presentation on camera, especially when someone who is one of the greatest cricketers of India [of] all time spoke for two hours nearly, Anil Kumble.Ganguly is right. An applicant for a job as high-profile as India coach must show not just urgency but also desperation to convince those selecting him of his merit. For Shastri to make his case over a Skype line in the middle of a holiday doesnt really send that message. Shastri was in Thailand, a short flight from Kolkata. He could have flown in, made his presentation and flown back to resume his holiday the same night.Why then did the BCCI not mandate that all candidates shortlisted for the interviews be present in person in Kolkata? If a prominent organisation were appointing a member of upper management, would those involved not insist on a face-to-face interaction with all those who aspire to the job? So while Ganguly is spot on about implying that Shastri didnt appear to regard the interview process seriously, the BCCI is at fault as well. All it needed was an email to the candidates saying they needed to make themselves available in person.On the other hand, while Gangulys advice to Shastri about being in front of the committee and not sit in Bangkok on holiday is valid, one wonders if he applies the same standard to his co-selectors. He wasnt the only one of the cricket advisory committee missing from the room when Shhastri was being interviewed.ddddddddddddSachin Tendulkar was also on a video call from wherever in the world he is holidaying at the moment. Only VVS Laxman and Sanjay Jagdale were in the room.While modern technology is a miracle, it hasnt fully replaced human interaction yet. So if Ganguly expects - and rightly so - Shastri to have made the effort as a candidate, should he not, by the same token, have expected Tendulkar to do the same? After all, in his own words, this is one of the most important jobs in cricket. Is the process well served if one of the four men entrusted with finding the right candidate is in another location, reliant on an internet connection, and as a result is presumably finding it hard to be part of the conversation? Should not both the interviewers and interviewee regard the process with the same rigour?For his part, Ganguly explained he had already notified the BCCI that he would need time away for a CAB working committee meeting. He explained that he left presuming the process would take a break while he was away, only to be asked if he was okay with letting the others go on with the Shastri interview. To which he said fine. Could he not have been asked to reschedule, considering he was in the midst of conducting interviews for one of the most important jobs in cricket? Shastris bombast, which set off this chain of events, also deserves calling out. It would be only natural for him to be cut up about being denied an extension. It is a high-profile, high-paying position, and Shastri by all accounts was a popular figure in the dressing room. However, by saying he was miffed at Gangulys absence and advising him to next time be at a meeting when someone is being interviewed for a position as important as that, he seems to be issuing a veiled warning.What, though, stopped Shastri from explaining to us whether he did raise this question as his interview began? Did he ask the others why Ganguly was absent? If so, what reply did he get? If he was unhappy with the reply, did he place any kind of protest on record? If he didnt raise the issue of Gangulys absence at all during the interview, why bring it up now? Had he been appointed coach, would he still have considered Gangulys absence disrespectful? Would we have heard him say, I am very thankful for this opportunity, though I do wish Sourav Ganguly would have been around when I was making my case.Those invested in Indian cricket - players, fans, officials and media - will know this is a temporary storm. When Shastri and Ganguly next run into each other there will be the statutory photo ops and plenty of laughter and backslapping. If anything, their tussle should alert the authorities to one minor learning: next time, get everyone in the same room while making critical decisions. ' ' '