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We will have a decisive Game 5 in the National League Division Series this year.

Chase Utley helped the Dodgers to a win in Game 4 of the NLDS on Tuesday night to extend the series and force the winner-take-all game against the Nationals (LAD 6, WAS 5). Game 5 will be Thursday night in Washington.

Now for some things to know about Game 4 ...

1. The Dodgers finally got to the Washington bullpen.

Coming into Game 4, the Nats bullpen in this series had twirled a combined 10 ⅔ scoreless innings, and over that span they struck out 14 batters. On Tuesday, they ran that streak to 12 ⅔ innings before the Dodgers broke through. In all, the Nats' pen gave up two runs in Game 4. Starter Joe Ross bears most of the responsibility for the loss, but the Washington relief corps saw its streak end at a critical time.

2. Clayton Kershaw hasn't been himself in the playoffs, but his bullpen hasn't helped.

There's no getting around the reality that Clayton Kershaw's postseason numbers on balance don't measure up to his historic brilliance in the regular season. In Game 4 on Tuesday, he allowed five runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. That means for his career in the postseason he has now pitched to an ERA of 4.83 in 15 playoff games, 12 of which have been starts. Not optimal. However, consider this bit of context ...

No, Kershaw hasn't been up to his usual standards, no, but the level of support he has gotten from his bullpen over the course of his postseason career has been inordinately bad. Everything in context, people.

3. Kershaw has been solid on short rest.

The Dodger ace was of course starting on short rest in Game 4. Kershaw's never made a regular-season start on fewer than four days of rest, but he has now made a short-rest start in each of the past four postseasons. Here's how his previous three outings on short rest went ...

2013 NLDS Game 4 vs. Braves: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 6 SO, 1 BB
2014 NLDS Game 4 vs. Cardinals: 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 9 SO, 2 BB
2015 NLDS Game 4 vs. Mets: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 8 SO, 1 BB

And then of course, here's what he did against the Nationals on Tuesday ...

2016 NLDS Game 4 vs. Nationals: 6.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 11 SO, 2 BB

Add it all up, and Kershaw on short rest has registered an ERA of 3.16 with 34 strikeouts against only six walks. His defense and bullpen didn't necessarily help him on Tuesday, but overall Kershaw has delivered when asked to pitch under such difficult circumstances.

4. Daniel Murphy seems healthy, to say the least.

Murphy was limited by a left leg/buttocks injury for a good chunk of September and eventually wound up sitting out 10 of the Nats' last 11 games of the regular season. That naturally raised concerns Murphy wouldn't be in peak condition for the NLDS.

Suffice it to say, those concerns have not been realized. Murphy entered Game 4 having gone 4 for 10 in this series with three walks and only one strikeout. Then he went out on Tuesday and went 2 for 3 with four RBI. He didn't notch an extra-base hit in the NLDS, but bear in mind he ceded the platoon advantage to three of the four Dodger starting pitchers in this series.

5. The Dodgers once again notched a first-inning homer.

In Game 4, Adrian Gonzalez went deep in the first inning. He joins teammate Corey Seager, who hit a home run in the first inning of Games 1 and 2. (Justin Turner "merely" hit a double in the first inning of Game 3.) As well, Nationals starter Joe Ross didn't give up a home run in any of his 19 starts during the regular season.

6. It's not surprising Joe Ross didn't last long.

For his young career, the 23-year-old Ross has lasted only 5.6 innings per start. This season, he has been a bit shy of that figure. As well, the right-hander spent roughly two-and-a-half months on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation. After returning from the DL, he logged a total of 9 ⅔ innings across three starts. Stated another way, Ross has made it out of the sixth inning in a start since June 27. On Tuesday, he lasted only 2 ⅔ because the Dodgers worked him and hung runs on him. However, Ross was never likely to make it deep into his start in this one.

7. Trea Turner remains adept at taking the extra base.

Nats' rookie Trea Turner is famous for his top-of-the-scale speed. Most conspicuously, that speed manifests itself in his stolen-base totals. Despite playing in only 73 games in the regular season, Turner swiped 33 bags in 39 attempts. He's a speed merchant, no doubt.

As well, Turner's also quite adept at taking the extra base. During the regular season, he took the extra base an impressive 59 percent of the time versus a league-average mark of 40 percent. His knack for going extra was certainly on display in Game 4. In the first, he scored from second on Daniel Murphy's ground-ball single to right. On that play, it's not much of an exaggeration to say Turner was close to touching the plate by the time Josh Reddick fielded the ball. That's particularly impressive considering there weren't yet two outs. Then in the third, Turner went first to third on a one-out single to right by Jayson Werth. One batter later, Turner scored on a Murphy sac fly. Even when he's not stealing, Turner's speed makes a difference.

8. These games were loooooong.

The pacing concerns of Game 3 between the Nats and Dodgers were recounted in this space, but it was really more of a series-long issue. Consider, for example, how long each of these four games lasted ...

Game 1: 3 hours, 46 minutes
Game 2: 3 hours, 55 minutes
Game 3: 4 hours, 12 minutes
Game 4: 3 hours, 44 minutes

To put that in context, 2016 NL regular-season games lasted on average just a bit over three hours. Also keep in mind that none of these games went extra innings and that run-scoring wasn't particularly out-of-whack.

9. Dusty Baker's teams have trouble closing it out.

As noted in this space, a World Series trophy is probably all that stands between the Nats' manager and the Hall of Fame. On that point ...

Needless to say, the Nats are hoping that streak ends on Thursday back in D.C.