Dylan Cease to start on short rest in NLDS Game 4

SAN DIEGO — The Padres are going for a knockout.

Right-hander Dylan Cease will take the ball on short rest for Game 4 of the National League Division Series on Wednesday night, manager Mike Shildt announced in the aftermath of the Padres’ 6-5 victory over the Dodgers on Tuesday night in Game 3 at Petco Park.

Cease, who was one of the Padres’ best pitchers during the regular season, has never started a game on three days’ rest in his career.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “I’m excited. I’ve never done it but that doesn’t really mean anything to me. Doesn’t mean I can’t do it.”

Cease threw only 82 pitches in Game 1 — an uncharacteristically rough outing for the 28-year-old right-hander. He allowed five runs over 3 1/3 innings, with three of those coming on a Shohei Ohtani home run. Prior to that start, Cease hadn’t pitched in nine days.

“Physically, I feel great,” Cease said. “I’ve told them I want to just treat it like it’s a normal start. I feel good.”

The Padres had a vacancy for Game 4, after right-hander Joe Musgrove sustained a torn UCL in his right elbow during his start against the Braves in Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series. With Musgrove set to undergo Tommy John surgery, San Diego added left-hander Martín Pérez to the NLDS roster. Pérez was an option to start Game 4 (and he still might be an option to pitch in relief).

But Cease was one of the best pitchers in the National League this season, posting a 3.47 ERA and a 3.10 FIP across 33 starts. He struck out 224 hitters, one shy of Chris Sale’s NL lead. With a chance to clinch, the Padres aren’t messing around.

“Dylan’s ready to go,” Shildt said. “And we’ll see how many bullets he’s got. Had his head around it, and [we] discussed it with him, and he was enthusiastic about it.”

As Shildt noted, it seems likely the Padres wouldn’t ask for serious length from Cease. In Game 3, they used all four of their highest-leverage arms — Robert Suarez, Tanner Scott, Jason Adam and Jeremiah Estrada. But all four dominated, and none reached the 20-pitch mark. With an off-day Monday and another scheduled off-day for Thursday (if the Dodgers force a Game 5), all four should be available.

Because of that Thursday off-day, right-hander Yu Darvish almost certainly would line up to start Game 5 at Dodger Stadium on Friday night, if necessary. Darvish pitched seven innings of one-run ball on Sunday in a Game 2 victory.