Broxton gets past a mental barrier

Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton struck out San Diego’s Matt Stairs on Thursday night in the ninth inning.

But there’s history to that matchup, context not to be skimmed over, which made the strikeout more than just a strikeout and instead a mental barrier that was hurdled.

They met in October in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, also in the ninth, with the Dodgers up by one and one win from tying the series against Philadelphia.

Broxton walked Stairs on four pitches. A few batters later, Jimmy Rollins hit a two-run double, giving the Phillies the win and a 3-1 lead in the series.

And they met a year before that, same inning, also in Game 4 of the NLCS, when Broxton gave up a pinch-hit, two-run homer to Stairs, giving the Phillies the win and a 3-1 lead in the series.

Last winter, Stairs told The Times that he could tell Broxton “didn’t want to pitch to me.” But Thursday night in the ninth inning, with one on and two out, Broxton clearly did.

There were only four pitches, but this time Broxton was noticeably more aggressive and Stairs struck out swinging on a 97-mph fastball, giving the Dodgers a 4-1 win.

Broxton wasn’t in the mood to talk about it after the game, or on Friday, but Manager Joe Torre said Broxton’s aggressiveness didn’t surprise him.

“The only thing I said to him when he walked him in the playoffs and we ended up losing was, ‘Don’t shortchange yourself,’ ” Torre said. “I didn’t try to psych him into pitching against one guy or another guy.”

But, Torre added, “You knew [Thursday] night, they had all those right-handed hitters and you’re sitting here in the seventh inning, you know they’re saving [Stairs] for Broxton. There was no question that was going to happen.”

Though the strikeout gave Broxton his eighth save and sealed the Dodgers’ 10th win in 11 games, Torre said it held greater meaning for his closer.

“It was important to get it behind him,” Torre said.

Furcal’s rehab continues

The Dodgers will send shortstop Rafael Furcal to Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz., to play in an extended spring training game Saturday as he continues to rehabilitate a strained left hamstring that has kept him on the disabled list since April 28.

Torre said Furcal could be activated Sunday, but with the team having Monday off, it seems more likely that Furcal would play Tuesday at the Chicago Cubs.

An extended spring training game is more loosely structured than a typical game, so Furcal could bat in every inning.

“Physically, we feel he’s there, and the fact that you play in the game conditions will hopefully validate that,” Torre said.

Kershaw on a roll

Torre said pitcher Clayton Kershaw will start Tuesday, meaning Torre won’t need a fifth starter until the series against the Colorado Rockies next weekend.

Kershaw has been on fire of late, pitching seven innings or more in three consecutive starts for the first time in his career. In those starts, he is 3-0 with a 0.81 earned-run average and 23 strikeouts.

Towers released

Minor league pitcher Josh Towers was released by the Dodgers and replaced in the rotation at triple-A Albuquerque by Seth Etherton, a first-round pick of the Angels out of USC in 1998.

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baxter.holmes@latimes.com