Clayton Kershaw tries to pitch Dodgers into playoffs again

LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw makes his final regular season home start of 2016 on Saturday night against the Rockies, potentially with a chance to pitch and win the Dodgers’ division clincher for a third straight season.

In 2015, Kershaw pitched arguably the second-best game of his career — behind his 2014 no-hitter — when he shut out the Giants with a one-hitter and 13 strikeouts, retiring his final 19 batters faced in the Dodgers’ 8-0 win in San Francisco.

Kershaw in 2014 clinched the division at home, also against the Giants, with 11 strikeouts in eight innings while allowing only one run on seven hits in a 9-1 win.

Going back to 2009, Kershaw in his second year struck out 10 in six scoreless innings in a 5-0 win over the Rockies at Dodger Stadium in the penultimate game of the regular season.

All three of those games were against the Dodgers’ direct competitor, which won’t be the case on Saturday, with the Giants in San Diego. But should the game at Petco Park, starting 30 minutes before the Dodgers, fall LA’s way, Kershaw could have another division clincher tonight.

Kershaw is also looking to complete one of the best home seasons in Dodger Stadium history. In nine home starts this season, Kershaw is 7-1 with a 1.19 ERA, with 80 strikeouts and just four walks in 68 innings.

80 strikeouts, and four walks.

In the 55-year history ofine Dodger Stadium, there have been eight pitchers to put up an ERA of 1.50 or less in a season at the park with a minimum of 10 starts, with Sandy Koufax the best at 0.85 in 14 starts in 1964. Kershaw’s 1.19 ERA would rank fourth on this list.

Chad Bettis starts for the Rockies on Saturday. He allowed four run in six innings to the Dodgers at a loss in Dodger Stadium on July 2. Since then the right-hander has nine quality starts in 13 outings, with a 3.52 ERA during that span, with 57 strikeouts and 28 walks in 79⅓ innings.

The Dodgers have won nine of their last 10 home games and are 18-7 in their last 25 games at Dodger Stadium.

Game info

Dodgers (88-66) vs. Rockies (73-81)

Time: 6:10 p.m. PT

TV: SportsNet LA, KTLA, MLB Network (in progress, at 7 p.m.)