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WASHINGTON -- While going to ace Clayton Kershaw on short rest helped the Los Angeles Dodgers stave off elimination in their NL Division Series against the Washington Nationals, it also has raised the question:Who will start Game 5 for the Dodgers?I know Kershaw isnt pitching, Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. Thank God.While there will be no Kershaw and LA manager Dave Roberts still has not named his starter, the Nationals will hand the ball to Cy Young Award candidate Max Scherzer in the decisive Game 5 at home Thursday night.With a spot in the NL Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs at stake, Scherzer is the man Washington wants on the mound and hes embracing the pressure.Ive kind of said over the past few days, Ive said that a handful of times throughout my career, `Hey, this is the biggest start of my career, Scherzer said Tuesday. How you handle that, going out there using the emotion of that scenario, that everything is on the line, look, Im not going to shy away from it. This is the biggest start of my career.Scherzer (20-7, 2.96 ERA) lasted only six innings and lost Game 1 after giving up home runs to Corey Seager and Justin Turner. While Scherzer is looking for some redemption, the Dodgers are looking forward to another shot at him.I mean, we beat him once already, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez said. We put some pretty good at-bats against him in Game 1, and were confident that we can do that again.The Nationals also had some good at-bats against LA lefty Rich Hill, beating him in Game 2. Hill (12-5, 2.12) will most likely be the Dodgers starter in Game 5, though Roberts will use a collection of arms and could quickly turn to fresh 20-year-old lefty Julio Urias if theres trouble.Washingtons bullpen has been strong, but Scherzer is in the spotlight.I know who Max is and how he goes about it, right fielder Bryce Harper said. I think there are things we can do in the bullpen, as well, if Max doesnt get to the ninth. Hes got a lot of help. So hopefully well get a couple of runs early and do what we can to stay with our approach and stay within ourselves (and) just have a lot of fun.Scherzer considers the big stage plenty of fun. He said it doesnt matter that its not him against Kershaw again and expects the Dodgers best effort and a charged atmosphere.Its going to be a heck of a ballgame, Scherzer said. These are two great teams. Weve seen great pitching, weve seen great offense, great bullpens, clutch hitting. Weve seen it all. So the opportunity to go out there in Game 5, back in D.C. with our fans, its going to be a heck of an experience.Some other things to watch in Game 5 between the Dodgers and Nationals:LEFT, LEFT, LEFT: The Dodgers can trot out a lineup of seven left-handed batters, starting with Chase Utley and Seager and continuing down to Gonzalez, Joc Pederson, switch-hitting catcher Yasmani Grandal and Andrew Toles. Thats a powerful crew that can do damage if Scherzer makes even a couple of mistakes.MURPH-TOBER: Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy has picked up where he left off last October with the New York Mets. Murphy is 6 for 13 with six RBI in the series but has yet to hit a home run. He had seven in the playoffs last year, including three against the Dodgers.BULLISH PEN: Nationals relievers have combined to allow two runs on 10 hits in 14 2/3 innings in the series. Lefties Sammy Solis, Marc Rzepczynski and Oliver Perez have flummoxed the Dodgers, who developed a reputation for struggling against left-handed pitchers.BAD AIM, NOT BLOOD: Pitchers have combined to hit 11 batters through four games, the most in a playoff series in major league history. Thats not because things have been chippy. I think our guys have done a lot of breaking balls to the lefties and caught their feet, Scherzer said. Thats just baseball. No one on either side is trying to hit anybody with everything on the line right now.---AP Sports Writer Greg Beacham in Los Angeles contributed.---This story has been corrected with Murphys playoff stats in this series and last year. Cheap Custom Thunder Jersey . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness. Custom Thunder Jerseys . 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Im an American baseball and football fan, and I love cricket.There are those around the world who believe that I dont exist, and I may be the only one - based on my attempts at outreach on social media sites - but I do in fact exist.At the moment, I am bingeing on the Caribbean Premier League. I can stream the entire league for a few bucks, and I have taken full advantage of the offer.A little background. I grew up in upstate New York, and my introduction to sports was the New York Mets of Tom Seaver, Jon Matlack, Jerry Koosman and Buddy Harrelson. My earliest sports memory was Buddy getting into a fight with Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds at second base during the 1973 National League Championship Series, which the Mets won in five games. My mom, dad and grandmother had all followed the Brooklyn Dodgers until the Dodgers unceremoniously decamped to California, and the excitement in my house around the Mets improbable run to the pennant in 73 hooked me onto baseball. I went on to play Little League, Babe Ruth League, high school baseball and American Legion baseball until I stopped being able to make contact with the increasingly blurry fastballs thrown at me, and stopped being able to track the hard-hit line drives in the outfield. I am still a Mets fan 40-something years later. I thrilled to the great 1986 World Series championship team when I was in college, and suffered through all the missed opportunities since, including last season.I am also a huge NFL fan, and the New England Patriots have always been my team. I sign up for NFL Sunday Ticket every season, so I can watch all 16 of the Patriots regular season games. The Patriots have rewarded my fan investment handsomely these days with four Super Bowl titles and two other appearances in the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era, albeit with plenty of controversy.My insatiable appetite for sports has taken my in many other directions. Tiger Woods run in the PGA was an obsession, and Im a big fan of Michelle Wie in the LPGA. I check in with the English Premier League on weekend mornings, and I follow the USAs mens and womens national teams in international soccer tournaments. Ive tried and failed to follow the NHL and the NBA, but Ill still watch a hockey or basketball game if theres nothing else on.I had never considered cricket as a sport to follow until I started watching The Thick Of It online, where the shenanigans in the British government often took a backk seat to whatever Test match was on the radio; and then, especially, the podcast The Bugle with ESPNcricinfos own Andy Zaltzman.ddddddddddddOn one episode, Andy was paying more attention to the Ashes than he was to whatever John Oliver was saying. After I heard that, I needed to see what was so engrossing.My first Ashes was the 2010-11 edition in Australia. It took about three matches to understand the rules and generally what was happening, but somewhere during the Perth match I became enthralled. Australia had dropped the second match badly, after a first-match draw, but battled back and destroyed England out west using local knowledge of the surface. I was intrigued that the results could be so drastically different in different locations, and felt compelled to tune in to see if England would rebound to win the series or if Australia could find a way to sweep the final two matches. I spent the Christmas holiday watching the fourth and fifth tests. I was now a full-on cricket fan.Since 2010, Ive watched two World Cups, two World T20s, three more Ashes series, and countless other matches that were available on WatchESPN. Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkars Cricket All-Stars came to Houston - where I live - last November and, of course, I was travelling that week and had to miss it. Finally, though, Im going to see a professional game live.I bought tickets to the Trinbago Knight Riders v St Kitts & Nevis Patriots game in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and I will be attending right before my wife and I go on a cruise. Ive been watching every game I can of the CPL T20 season to familiarise myself with the teams and players. I am looking forward to the constant drumming, costumes, dancing, Caribbean food and drink, and hard hits that I am seeing in the games so far. About the only regret I will have is that I didnt get tickets to the Jamaica Tallawahs game to watch #UniverseBoss himself, Chris Gayle. I watched his methodical destruction of Trinbago this week, and my respect for his batting ability is right up there with my respect for Tom Bradys quarterbacking and Yoenis Céspedes all-around play.I hope to keep watching the tournament and then write about my experience at the Florida match. Stay tuned.Want to be featured on Inbox? 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